Old Friends

In January of 1996, I left the company I had been working for 6 years to strike out on my own. At the time, I was working for a pretty nice guy and working with a bunch of talented carpenters….guys who I truly enjoyed swinging hammers with every day. As skilled journeymen, we challenged each other every day.

Though we were often leading other crews, when we worked together, each of us stepped up our game a little bit. Whether it was how fast we could complete our section of work, how accurately we could lay something out, or what shiny new tool we had just bought, we each, subconsciously, I think, wanted to impress each other. Not in a competitive or cutthroat way, mind you; but more along the lines of affirming daily our deserved positions, of showing why we belonged there. On those days, working with those guys, work was a pleasure.

On my last day at work for that company, my boss, my fellow carpenters and assorted helpers and laborers had a small sendoff for me at the project I had been running, and was now leaving. The job was a large addition and whole house renovation on Foxhall Rd….a huge Victorian place, with enough challenges and details to make a carpenter truly content with his work.

At that time, the drywall had not yet been hung, but the place was closed in, and the fireplace had been completed. It was January, and quite cold. And so there we sat that evening, in the dark, drinking countless beers, swapping stories around a roaring fire we had just christened the fireplace with. An evening at a swanky restaurant could not have been finer than that night, in the company of friends.

As the evening wore on, people drifted off, one by one, until there were just a few of us left; my boss, and those few carpenters with whom I so enjoyed working. After assuring myself that my fairly drunk boss would get home OK (it was a pretty easily navigable downhill run to MacArthur Blvd.) the rest of uswalked to our trucks. One of my good friends and I chatted for awhile after, well and truly buzzed, about how we’d miss working with each other and how….soon, man….soon, we’d both be masters of our own fate; how we’d help each other out from time to time.

We kept in touch afterwards, seeing each other now and then…the last time maybe 4 or 5 years ago. In the intervening years, we had kids, grew older, grayer, balder and heavier. He went out on his own a few years after I did, and works mainly out and around Annapolis. What we never did do in all those years though, was work together. Until yesterday.

A few weeks ago, I had referred him to an architect who was building a house near Annapolis…out of my area. I called him to tell him that, and we chatted for the first time in years. Things are slow, and he didn’t have much going on, he said. As it happens, I have a carpenter who is going on vacation in a few weeks, and I could use a stand-in. I also had need for someone yesterday.

Which is how I came to spend the entire day, in 25 degree weather, working side by side with my friend…for the first time in 14 years. Like Forrest Gump said: “we was just like peas and carrots!” I had forgotten the pleasure of working with someone as experienced as myself; me cutting, him nailing…working in tandem…challenging each other to do our best. Working alone most of the time, you miss that. The old rythms that made us so happy to work together all those years ago were still there, and I was pleased. I haven’t had such an enjoyable day of work in I don’t know how long……maybe 14 years!

My friend would probably think I’m goofy and that I waaay overthought it, but it really was great day. It reaffirmed to me why I do what I do, and it made me remember the true joy I felt, and continue to feel, in taking part in the creation of something. So thanks Scot….more than you know!