On thebench

Two slabs of black walnut cross at the center to make four legs, tenoned into a round top and a round base. It is drawn in three sizes, 24, 18 and 11 inches across. The 24 sits beside a chair; the 11 holds a drink and has one slot to a wing.

Solstice comes from the Latin for the sun standing still. Twice a year the point where the sun rises stops moving north or south along the horizon and seems to hold for a few days before it turns back. I named the table for the winter one: by a south window, when the sun stays low all day, light comes through the slots in its legs and lays bars across the floor.

The lamp is two cages of 16 slats, one inside the other, on a round base. Turning the outer cage 3/4 inch at the rim moves its slats over the gaps in the inner one and softens the stripes the light throws on the wall. What stops it at open and at closed is still being drawn.

Vuelta is Spanish for a turn, and the lamp is named for its outer cage, which turns to close. The word also means a return; “de vuelta” means back, or again.