Topping Out the steel (click me)

"Topping out" is the term used by ironworkers to indicate that the final piece of steel is being hoisted into place on a building, bridge, or other large structure.1 The project is not completed, but it has reached its maximum height. To commemorate this first milestone the final piece of iron is usually hoisted into place with a small evergreen tree (called a Christmas tree in the trade) and an American flag attached.

Traditions can be cool. As a constructor, I particularly like this one. But I have a better Christmas tree story. I know this guy, let's call him Bob to protect the innocent. Bob had a God event this weekend. He went with his family and his parents to get a Christmas tree. They were sucessful in their search, and having tied the tree to the van, my friend was about to leave. But what good Italian son would leave without saying goodbye to his mother? So walked over and gave her a big smooch (maybe I'm embellishing - but it's kinda fun!). Bob turned to see a woman pondering how she would tie her tree to the car. She was a single mom with no field experience in this area. A tough, self sufficient mom. But alas, a mom at a loss. So Bob not only tied the tree to the car, but he taught her how. Tie a tree for a woman and shell drive for a day, teach a woman to tie...oh, nevermind. As the chocolate on the pillow event, he handed each child an end of the rope through the window and told them to hold on tightly - they would play a critical role in the tree getting home safely. For his efforts, Bob got a priceless treasure...a heartfelt hug.

Only later did he learn that she determined to cut her own tree, and did. But had no idea how to tie it to the car - so she prayed. (remember the God thing). She prayed as my friend was hugging mom (his cheek is still pinched red), and God answered that prayer as Bob turned and summed up the situation. He thought to himself, "what would dad do?" Which is the same as, "what would Jesus do." And he did it. "Topping out the Steel" is cool, but topping out the mini-van is even cooler. I just hope there were enough joyful tears to go around.

the Mission Statement

Read the "mission statement." You'll understand why Steve is one of my favorite authors.

There's always Hope

I don't know if you can see it. That little yellow dot on the right side of the porch roof. It's a sunflower. A tenacious seed that grew where it landed...on the roof of an abandoned, and now demolished house. I drove by this place for the longest time, and never noticed. And then one day I saw it, had to turn the car around and marvel with my family. What an odd place for a beautiful flower. What an amazing statement...especially in light of the election. For me, the outcome is disappointing. And it would be too easy to sink into the mire of it. But even in a a place with a questionable foundation, destined for destruction, left to neglect...there's always hope. Rembember what Obama says - that hope should be audacious. And before you leave, take another look at that sunflower and just smile!

Support our troops...it's what I do

It's time to get back to the "It's what I do" theme that originally made my blog famous amound my two readers. Usually I try and write to the middle of the road...but not today. In fact, you've read all there is for today...sometimes a picture is worth a thousand rounds...er...words.

The Cruise!

http://picasaweb.google.com/cjbuttonmeister

Dancing with Cinderella

There's a tragic story here. The singer lost his daughter recently. You can google it if your so inclined. He had no idea what his words and actions would mean until that day. The loss of a young life is so tragic, but even more so is to be with that person and to have never known them. Too many times this song brings tears to my eyes as I sit in my chair and play it...my littlest, my middlest and my biggest girls, one at a time will so often wander over and snuggle up in ways more cat like than girl like (how do their little bodies bend like that?!). They look at books, or play with barbies, or... and every once in a while they'll sing along, looking at me in such a wonderful way, "I danced with Cinderella..." As for me, Saturday I'm going to clean the living room, move the coffee table out and dance with Cinderella because "I know something the prince never knew."

Ra Ra Riot...It's what Tom does !!!

See you next week !!!

A brush with greatness...

I wrote this on 8/5/07...more than a year ago...
As I grow older, but not old, I have these nostalgic moments. Moments when I consider the paths I've crossed with "greatness." Famous generals, a Nobel Prize winner, and in a funny way…Frank Lloyd Wright. It’s mysterious – upon my return from touring the Meyer May house in Michigan, I find myself not drawn to the man, but rather his ghost. Or is it the ghost of the house he’s created. It's not the man I admire. It's the work. His dream. His accomplishment. The Meyer May house was like his opus...no, it's in fact this country's opus for the man. It's restoration has made the house more than it ever was. For Frank Lloyd Wright, every project seemed was an opus; nothing was mundane or routine. I wish I had an hour to simply sit, alone, in the living room to study every nuance and the detail. To take it all in...to feel the house, to experience the ghost. And eventually come to the conclusion that this was just one of so many.I'll never be a Frank Lloyd Wright, and I find comfort in that. Here a week after a 40 something birthday, I realize that instead of being disillusioned with my life – I'm really quite pleased with it. I’d love to have more…more friends, more wealth, more fun – the whole deal. But I really am happy. Two days ago...maybe it was even yesterday, there were so many thoughts I couldn't find time to articulate them. Today, even now, they've faded. But this thing hasn't...this feeling. There is some indescribable form of awe that exist in the shadow of greatness. It just has to be found.

Sweet Home Alabama ?

Friggin' Moron

I loved this. There's a link up there if you love it...no affiliation with me, it was just hard to find and I'm feeling helpful this morning! As for which candidate I may be referring to...

Coincidence ???

Camera loser (or the canoe trip)

Saturday 9AM we hit the water for a 9 mile canoe trip. My 12 year old and me along with the youth group. It was a great time! And I took dozens of amazing pictures...with a camera that had no memory card installed. Saturday I was a camera loser. It was hard work, and I'm feeling all of those muscles I rarely use. I also have a theory that when the operated on my neck, they didn't put all the pieces back quite like they originally were : )

I thought it was interesting...perhaps the last photo I didn't take was of my daughter's dance teacher. She inquired in a laughing tone, "so, are we going to end up on your blogsite?!" I think she meant it in a good way, but it did make me think. So Ms. KVK, unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) you will not end up on my blogsite...at least not today!

France. Could be many places in Europe, but this is France. A great friend of ours just returned with wonderful photos...and wonderful memories. The pictures were all great: Paris; the mountains; her friends. This picture however really delighted me. It's a church...actually a monastary I think. The architecture is amazing. Perfect lines, proportion, stone, arches and angles. All the classic elements. Each with a specific name, but to analyze the building by the textbook terms really would ruin the point. There's something comforting, something secure in the knowlege that some buildings stand the test of time. That some design is timeless. And that we're all human and connected, and that there are things like this building that bind us together in some intangeable way. I could go on for a long time about what this architecture makes me feel, but what would be the point? Enjoy the building and think about a good friend...and if you ask nice enough - maybe she'll extend the right to steal her pictures to you too!