One of my friends is in Ireland for a month, and left me a key to her place, so I had the ideal venue for building something out of my mother’s line of sight. Other than a few rough-measurement criteria and some preferences on finish, I was given total design authority by my sister. I enjoy projects more when I have the freedom to be creative, and every project is happier when the clients are away.
It took about an hour to get the rough design figured out, and by the end of the first day the swing had taken shape. My uncle once told me that the difference between a good carpenter and a great carpenter is in how they are able to hide their mistakes. Builders of anything will tell you that the most prominent features of their creations are, to them, the scars, dings, blemishes and gaffes they etched into the final product by mistake. My mother’s porch-swing was not the exception which proves that rule.
At some point, projects come to an end, and it is only because the builder has said “this is the end,” and not because the project was made perfect. Having decided that the swing was completed, there were still a number of logistical elements to pin down. My sister could get our mother out of the house on Friday for about seven hours. I asked my dad to come to Seattle to meet me under the preamble that visiting my job site would be a good distraction for my nephews while their mother was away…
albaniacalling 