How many gallons of sweat?

It was late in the afternoon Friday when Shawn said he was sorry he and his crew hadn't finished everything they'd hoped to do during their week, and I choked up.

In this picture, Shawn is drilling and countersinking the incredibly hard ipe wood, so the screw heads are below the surface. Ben (the "White Rhino"), in the straw hat, is pushing hard to screw in the fasteners (the pre-drilling makes that possible, but not easy); and Charles is using his body weight against a chisel to overcome any curve.

That was symbolic of the whole effort Shawn's crew made this week. What you're missing is the sweated-through shirts, the banged thumbs, the sore hands, the aching backs.

And that week of fine work brought the house so many notches forward, despite one tropical storm early in the week, and two thunderstorms on Friday. They were all amazed at the suddenness with which intense rain started and stopped -- and they were left just as breathless by the spikes in humidity afterward.

At the end of the work week, as they packed up their tools and got ready for a Duval crawl before an early start home Saturday, I asked if they'd mind one more job: signing their work. I had them put their names on a post that supports the flitch beam -- which holds our house together.

They obliged me.

I chose that post because it's going to be faced in wood paneling -- so it will be legible the next time the house needs work. Considering that it's been there since 1908, I figure that will be about 2104.

And whenever that happens, someone will encounter Shawn, Uncle Arnold, Ben, Lil Shawn, Kurt and Charles. I hope they smile and say hello and thanks so very much.