It’s All in the Detail!

After waiting what seemed an inordinate amount of time, I phoned the roofers at lunch time. Imagine my surprise when they told me they had been to our house and had measured for the new roof to be installed! We were all set I was reassured. How could that be when I had been at home all Saturday morning waiting for them? When they described our location with two cars in the driveway and a young man who informed them that we were not home, I knew they had gone to the wrong house. Profuse apologies followed and then reassurances that they would measure our roof on Monday. I wonder what those neighbors must have thought when they learned that someone had been on their roof? As humorous as it was, would it have been that funny if the roofers had proceeded to remove the wrong roof? I think not. Mistakes are made all the time in life.

Better to be safe than sorry, I requested they leave me a note the next time since I would be out of town. Not finding one, I feared the worst and phoned the company on Tuesday. The roofing contractor described the garden on the left side of our house after I asked if they had measured the correct roof. They had. At the mercy of weather in Upstate New York, we waited for the rains to stop for the job to commence. Each day brought inclement weather. The crew arrived this week and installed the new roof in under three days and just before snow forecasted this weekend. Except the evidence of a new roof, there is no indication the roofers were here. I am impressed with that.

When my father was still alive, he installed a new roof on my Virginia home. He asked me to bring him something to the roof. Now climbing ladders is not one of my favorite activities. Following a heated discussion about the correct way to descend a ladder, I chose to do it my way. It was probably more dangerous in my father’s eyes, but I nonetheless climbed down without incident. Probably this is a generational thing between parents and their offspring with parents saying one thing, and children doing another. We somehow manage to grow up anyway.

Watching the sights and sounds of construction has always fascinated me. It reminds me of my father and our home in Sturbridge which he built with assistance from his brothers. And later, he finished the interior of our Pueblo, Colorado home. There is much satisfaction in creating with one’s own two hands. I learned the value of this early and as a sewing artist and later author, I valued paying attention to detail and nurtured it in our children. As a teacher, I also encouraged students to think for themselves and to find creative solutions to projects and assignments. We learn by doing. Example is a powerful teaching tool. And learning from mistakes and failures and correcting them are important life lessons.