Friday Hometown Shootout -- Construction

In the words of Obama, let me be perfectly (pause) clear.  I am a dunce at construction.  In fact, if Karen were doing this post, she would put in a picture of me because I am her best construction project.  In 1988, when we were first married, she began talking about buying a house. I was negative about it, having rented all of my life. I argued the advantage of renting was that if anything went wrong you called the landlord to fix it.  But I agreed that we could buy a house as long as she never expected me to be anything resembling a "handyman."


 

This is me a year later.  I was about to start painting and had just finished spackling the walls to prepare them.  Two hours before this picture was taken, I had never heard of "spackle."  I am looking at the paint brush and thinking, "What the heck have I got myself into."

Two decades later, I have -- with great reluctance and heel dragging -- installed ceiling fans, dishwashers, disposal units, gutters, electric wiring, plumbing, and insulation.  I have dug trenches and installed irrigation systems.  I am still muttering, "What the heck have I got myself into."   Yes, I have been Karen's best construction project.

Although I didn't do too well with building treehouses.

Come to think of it, I didn't do too well with the disposal unit either.

But moving along...when I first thought about this post and the theme of "construction," I didn't think I would have much.  I was thinking typical hard-hat construction stuff.

 

 

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But there is also construction on a smaller scale:

I'll never forget this amazing Zapotek Indian woman I met when I was fortunate enought to be part of a government exhange program in Oaxaca, Mexico.

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Or the sand sculptors below at the Isle of Palms summer sand sculpture competition.

And that, for the moment, is that...I've got to go now and replace a tire on the lawn mower.   Happy New Year!