An amazing day

Now that I have time to step back and take a deep breath, I have the opportunity to share more details about the raising day. Once again, the weather looked iffy. We started out by meeting the Old School crew at the Miss Lyndonville Diner for breakfast at 6:30. from there, they headed up to the jobsite to start the raising, while Loralee and I ran several errands.

Around 9 AM, we were at the Town Clerk's office getting our marriage licence, when Jeb called "Where the hell are you? The house is half up!" We dropped everything and headed up to the homesite. Incredible! 2/3's of the 1st floor was done, many pieces having been pre-assembled on the ground the day before. Derosher's crane would lift these sections into place, and the crew would assemble them... Sort of like a giant errector set. It was a lot of fun watching everyone work together, getting each beam to fit into the next.

Although by brother Aaron beat us there, Chris arrived around 10:30, as did a few more friends and our neighbor Chuck Fergus. It was also around this time that the first rain show passed through. The Crew, however, did not slow down. Linley, Keone's wife, and a few other of the wive's arrived with a mid-morning snack and coffee. They had thier kids with them, and it was a lot of fun watching the crew work, while the kids played and the rest of us just watched the house go up. The sense of community and family was very strong, and both Loralee and I felt so good being a part of it and seeing our home created before our very eyes.

Around noon, with everyone's family there and more of our friends arrived and we all paused for lunch under the tent-- Quiches, ham, salads and pie. Things had progressed quite rapidly up to this point, but the afternoon was going to go a lot slower. A few peices did not fit together quite right, and event the big mallets (the "persuaders") could not solve the problem. However, some simple measuring and cutting took care of most of the issues. The rain kicked up again, but it did not last. As the afternoon progressed, Chris and I broke into the beer... I can't recall the last time I drank ALL afternoon. Although Jeb had predicted getting done by 3, it was well past six by the time they told us to go hunt down our good-luck tree.

This is a Nordic tradition, to nail a fresh evergreen to the peak of the roof as a good-luck symbol. It represents the new growth and life springing from the 'roots' of the new home... Lor found the tree, and asked me to nail it in place. Randy Derosher, the crane operator, had the brilliant idea of strapping me in a harness and winching me to the peak. What a wild ride! Everyone cheered when the tree was nailed in place, and I was lifted gently back to the ground...

... Well, half-way, any way. Randy paused the winch and said "While we have you there, your future wife wanted me to say a few things to you..." Everyone laughed, while I danged 20 feet off the ground...

After pausing for pictures, everyone broke into the beer in ernest, and we hung out talking about the project. What a day.