Pegged to last

When the deck wood came in, I thought it would be interesting to juxtapose it -- fresh, smooth and strong -- with a heavy old hand-hewn beam end Ref had salvaged: a tough and tested survivor.

(The beam itself got recycled into the new wall between the living room and bedroom, but its tongue and peg hole, made by the ship's carpenters who framed the old house, were too good to toss.)

I found another juxtaposition a few days later.

Uncle Albert was doing some surgery on the soffit, helped by his great-nephew, the younger Shawn.

It had taken Albert about half a second to identify the beam as cypress -- a lifetime of carpentry, much of it with boats, will do that.

Old, tough and tested, working hard to pass it along to fresh, smooth and strong. Now that's building -- just a thought for Labor Day.