When I was a teenager our dad started building a small cottage by the lake on the edge of our property, then at first he said it was a fishing shack, then he said it would be a guest house, however he took care of it for years, consistently making it larger, consistently improving it.
I could assume the fact that our family didn’t legitimately need a cottage at all, however it seemed substantial to Dad.
I guess he favorite laboring with his hands to being around his family. In order to spend more time with him I started helping Dad with the cottage, most notably with installing the tile fireplace, and later, the water boiler, but the people I was with and I spent an entire Summer building that tile fireplace, and it is a Summer I will never forget, but dad was a giant fan of going slow, tile by brick, making every detail perfect, and I came to see that it wasn’t about the fireplace at all, but with so several aspects of his life being out of his control, Dad found peace and harmony in doing things appreciate building a fireplace. He took his time to make it perfect, because he knew nothing else in life would ever be perfect! Maybe I’m getting a little maudlin, however to this entirely morning I consistently guess of Dad when I see a fireplace. It was a much easier task when he installed the tepid water heater. Dad was still laboring on the fishing shack when he passed away, but I can’t imagine he would have wanted to go any other way.
climate control