My wife doesn’t make a big fuss about Mother’s Day gifts. But in 2001, she had a very specific request. It was our first spring in a new-to-us home with a large backyard patio. She wanted a couple of Adirondack chairs for Mother’s Day to spruce up that outdoor space. I was more than happy to oblige. I bought some Western red cedar, stainless steel screws and got down to business. I adjusted the backrest comfort to her satisfaction, sanded the chairs until splinters seemed downright impossible and applied her choice of deck finish color. Humble as those outdoor chairs were, she was thrilled with them and always proud to show them off to friends. After more than two decades of constant weather exposure and use, one of those chairs eventually gave up the ghost. Its mate continued to stand in the corner of her flower garden until last summer. It had long since passed the point of being sturdy to sit in, but she kept it as garden art anyway.…