Marian Sawby and I have a lot in common. We're retired teachers. People get us confused because of our first names and our deep, mellow voices. During the last years of our careers, we taught next door to each other. She taught speech. I taught English. We also used to share a fixation for the soap opera "All My Children."

I won't divulge all the specific details, but I'll just say that where there's a will to watch a soap opera in the middle of a school day, there's a way. Both Marian and I found our unique ways during the steamy Tad, Greg and Jenny days of the 1980s. I have a feeling that both of us have moved on and left that fixation far behind.

Now that I've moved on to Selle, Marian and I share another connection. I live at the south end of the road, while she lives in a house among her beautiful rhodadendrons about two miles to the north. Same road, different name. Yesterday, I received a call from Marian. She invited me to come down to see the knives that she and her husband Scott are sending to New York.

The Sawbys will catch up with their knives tomorrow when they fly east themselves. Normally, they'd be flying to a knife show in the plane that Scott built from scratch, but this time they're letting the airlines do the work. Both are pilots themselves.

On Thursday, they'll participate in the knife show representing Sawby Custom Knives (http://www.sawbycustomknives.com/). If this year's event goes anything like the last one they attended in Manhattan, all thirteen knives could be sold in 15 minutes.

These are not just any knives. Many sell for four figures. All were crafted by Scott in his little shop in the woods. Each features the added, sophisticated touch of Marian's artistic creativity and her engraving skills. Both Marian and Scott put hundreds of hours of fine-tuned work and care into their finished products, which can include stones, mother of pearl, wood or bones from all over the world. Scott has also developed and patented two locking mechanisms for his knives.

He's been creating custom cutlery since for nearly 40 years. After learning from an Idaho master, Scott and a friend set up their knife-making partnership in the woods where both have owned ten-acre plots of land since 1976. Scott eventually went into business for himself, and as she was nearing retirement, Marian decided to try her hand at engraving. She says she's surprised herself in that she now creates all her own artistic designs for each knife.

Marian says she often spends up to six hours a day at her in-home work station, looking through a microscope while carving intricate designs and in-laying gold onto each knife. She likes to come up with floral illustrations on Scott's individual models which are named with birds in mind. She did show me one knife engraved with a Mayan pyramid.

I cherish the time spent at the Sawby's home yesterday, not only because I admire their superb combined craftsmanship but also because they represent one more example of how talent, ingenuity and vision can steer us down some exciting paths in this life. Their path from the woods of Idaho takes them to the sidewalks of New York.

And, there's an added plus. Last time they attended their knife show, Scott and Marian walked by the studio for The Daily Show with John Stewart. They learned how to get tickets for their next trip to New York. Marian has those tickets, and, with luck, they'll be sitting in the audience during Thursday night's show. Marian has promised----if technology allows---to send me a full report FROM The Daily Show. So, stay tuned on Friday. If all goes well, you can read it here on slightdetour.

In the meantime, go visit their site and learn about their knives, which are definitely a cut above your standard pocket knife.

Note: Annie's got some new photos up on her site (http://www.nnlove.blogspot.com/) Check 'em out.