finite energy

I have a good friend who is building a large home and airplane complex.

He was about 65 when he began. First he built a 40 by 80 airplane hanger. I forgot to say that the house and hanger are along the side of an Air-Park not far from where I live. They are side by side.

Any way he built this huge hanger pretty much by himself. He is big and strong and it went well, but it took him 3 or 4 years. Then he began the house.

He is a great craftsman and a consummate perfectionist, so everything is done very carefully. The property comes complete with geothermal hot water to for heat, but not cold water for drinking. If you want cool water to grout with you fill buckets and let them cool to room temperature.

He has back up systems for everything, and sometimes back up for the backup system.

But there is a downside.

He is about 75 now. His legendary strength is not so strong any more. Fourteen hour days have reduced to 5 or 6 hour days. He and his wife (who is a great helper) plod along getting prodigious amounts of work done.

But this is a big house with a LOT of time eating details.

A while back while visiting with them after church, I found out that he had put down about a thousand feet of ceramic tile in the entry, kitchen and hall areas. Did a decent job of it too. Wife said she was grouting the tile, but it would probably take her all summer to get it done. I asked what she was using for tools and she said she was using a 1” putty knife.

So I offered to come out and “show her” how to grout tile, a LOT faster. So Miriam and I spent a short day and did ⅔ of the grouting. We went back and finished later.

Now she has the summer for other things.

Miriam asked him if sometimes he wished he had never started such a big project. He nodded his head.

So I think about all of this. They still have at least 2 more years to go on the house. The kicker is that when it is finished it will be sold and they will go live closer to a daughter. He does not fly any more and his airplane is for sale.

An old friend once said to me (I was in my early 60’s at the time) to get my “heavy lifting” done by the time I was 70, it is harder after that.

Hmm. We only have so much strength and as we age that strength is finite, sadly reduced by age. I wonder, often, what I should be putting my time and effort onto now?

And as I think about it I go back to my art studio to think it over.

Or I take a nap.