It was Robert Frost who noted that "Good fences make good neighbours". If this is truly the case then what is the value of a good wall? As I noted yesterday, Outside hunky contractor showed up with a crew of impossibly young and for the most part equally hunky boy/men, (hey I am middle aged-not dead!!) ready to inflict much damage to the outer shell of this house. (I must digress as I tell you that while all of these guys are obviously very skilled at what they do, there is a certain disconnect in some of their intellects. One young man knocked on the door and ask if we had a bathroom--not if he could use it, just if we had one--as if we have been putting the refuse in a glass mason jar. Of course, me being me, said "Of course we have a bathroom (pregnant pause)-Oh would you like to use it? Down the hall, around the plastic condom and to the left.") As documented in the photos, it took a little more than three hours to dismantle a structure that has stood intact for more than twenty-five years through snow, sleet, wind and water. It is amazing what determination, drive, passion and the threat of lost revenue can accomplish. What took three hours to take down, will apparently take up to ten working days to rebuild, reface, re-brick and redesign. At the very least, they have not left us exposed to nature's wrath and have secured us, both physically and in the knowledge, that we will not be set upon in the wee hours of the November night by predators (neither the two-legged nor four-legged varieties). Building walls, both structurally and metaphorically, have both an upside and a down. While we are locking out the creepy-crawlies, we are locking in the heat and warmth. Let's just take care not to reverse that statement. There is a real life lesson in all of this. What has taken a lifetime of love and care to build and nurture, can be destroyed in less time than it takes to drive to Detroit!
Well we have made it through week one (older son and teenage son have been betting on the exact date of my demise, but I am still here!!) in this story of destruction and renovation. Thanks to all who have commented.
While Outside hunky contractor and his impossibly young crew will be labouring on Shabbos, I will not be. Shabbat Shalom to all who observe it.
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