Carving "Tidbits"

Every now and then when I am sitting on the swing, all be myself with a knife and whittling or carving, some thoughts beat their way to the surface of my meager brain. As I was making a stop cut to define the top of a hat band, I stopped and thought; "if I keep on making this cut where will the knife tip go"? The manner in which I was holding the knife and the wood meant that the knife would slide off the wood and into my hand. I immediately corrected what I was doing. You should always know where your knife tip is, where it is going, and where it might go. Never be in too much of a hurry to not to follow this simple thought process.