worker ants

I killed an ant that was creeping into my front door. The ant next to it rolled over and played dead. He took me by surprise and made me laugh. The house building is a different kind of drama. In the past couple of weeks the house has changed from a concrete structure to one with window openings, door openings and a ceiling above. A closed in space where we once tried so hard to image it.

By the July 4th weekend break Tilt had the site cleaned up and the deck on. I have always found basements creepy. I guess it is some kind of leftover childhood fear that seeps into me from dark corners and boilers that surely will come alive and eat me. I thought I wouldn't feel that way in a brand home. However, the first time I walked in and couldn't see the sky above, I knew which corners I would avoid. I decided that K's foot prints will protect me from the ghouls under the stairs, but I suspect I may walk fast past the other dark corner.

The joinery for the timber frame started Monday morning when LL generously showed up and gave us a week of work. Tilt, Dad, and LL have been working in the hot sun all week without the usual breeze that hits the hill. They are building the frame next to the house with a view of the open deck that we cannot fully imagine being enclosed like the space below now is.

The stress to get the work done is on Tilts shoulders. I can see it on his mind before he speaks of joinery and framing and insulation all at once. He then tells me that he is "trying to build the house in one day again." It is this unrealistic goal that lets him know he is tired and should stop working, planning, and thinking. It is time to hang out in the doorway with a beer and the death feigning ant.