hey jud

Things were busy, busy in Braintree today, kind of like on 'This Old House' when all the various tradesmen show up. Besides Gary, his partner and the plumber were there. The plasterer and the concrete guy who will be pouring the basement slab both came by to coordinate their work, and the excavator who started the 'Big Dig', dropped by just to say hello. The deck is all framed and by this time tonight, the decking and stairs are probably on as well. The shower moved from outside on the driveway to its place inside. And the new light for the deck fit perfectly in place.

I think of this past Labor Day weekend as the 'not afraid to be a tourist in your own town' weekend. Living just steps from the Bunker Hill Monument and walking over a good part of the Freedom Trail every day make it nearly impossible to avoid joining the map and guidebook-clutching visitors. But until Sunday they had seen sites I'd walked past many times but never bothered to visit. In the North End, we finally stopped in at the Paul Revere House on North Street, at the Bulfinch-designed St. Stephens Church on Hanover Street, and then walked through the mall, past the statue of Paul Revere, to see the interior of Old North Church. Besides these well-known tourist stops, just up the block a bit from the Paul Revere House, we admired the Mariners' House from top to bottom . It's been a refuge for seafarers and their families since 1847, and is still an active inn for those who can show proof of maritime service. Everywhere we went there were throngs of people, walking into Quincy Market, looking down from the balcony, and even at our favorite Cafe Graffiti. But the view out to the harbor was still peaceful and relaxing.

We were back in Braintree this Saturday while the workmen finished the floor in the basement. The new deck with its railing, stairs and lattice looks terrific, viewed from sitting on the swing, from the side and from sitting in the door out to the deck. Pete is checking out some floor tile and grout choices and the background shows the insulation well on the way. And finally, the dining room window is opened up to door size, so from the living room, you can now see all the way out to the backyard, and the view will only get better when the boxes are out of the way.

For a day like yesterday I don't have enough tears, I don't know enough prayers.

Last night I was part of a very somber group of people attending an inter-faith memorial service at Government Center Plaza. The thought, and words that I came away with, were that we must not fear evil. Instead, in response to events of evil, we must fear becoming evil ourselves. Let us heed those words.

Yesterday, I caught the end of George Harrison's 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' on the car radio, thinking perhaps it was part of some music, specially and perceptively, chosen in the aftermath of the terrorism. But it turned out just to be ordinary programming made poignant by Tuesday's horror.

I look at the world and I notice it's turning
While my guitar gently weeps
With every mistake we must surely be learning
Still my guitar gently weeps
I don't know how you were diverted
You were perverted too
I don't know how you were inverted
No one alerted you. 

I look at you all see the love there that's sleeping
While my guitar gently weeps
Look at you all...
Still my guitar gently weeps. 

When we got to Braintree on Saturday the inside had been transformed from studs and insulation to blueboard and plaster, getting close to completion. The plasterers were still there just finishing up in the bathroom. Once they'd gotten everything cleaned up and just before they were ready to go, they posed underneath the tricky ceiling slope to display their craftsmanship . Thanks to Mark Zopatti, another example of craftsmanship is shown in the basement shot of the new heating and cooling system and its outside, perfectly placed, condenser. Click on any of these photos to see them full size.

Like everyone, I'm trying to make sense of the events of last Tuesday and appreciate the numerous, helpful links on Meg's and Jason's sites. Here's a short list of those that have opened my eyes to a broader world than I had known just a week earlier.

Informational series from the Detroit Free Press 100 Questions and Answers about Arab Americans.

The Education of a Holy Warrior from a New York Times Magazine article, June 25, 2000.

This week's Salon article An Afghan-American Speaks.

Economist article The Coming Battle including a map locating Afhganistan and surrounding countries.

Following up the articles above, H.D.S. Greenway's Op-Ed piece in today's Globe, 'War on Terrorists Will Require New Thinking', closes with a pertinent sentence.

'Ignorance, poverty, despair, and repression are the soil in which terrorism takes root.' 

A gray day in Boston with the only show of color, the American Flag. There's pretty much nothing more to be said.

As the final week for the Braintree addition looms, the walls all have a first coat of paint and most of the floor has been laid. And I know exactly how much to shorten the shower curtain after hanging it up for a test. Unfortunately the photos don't accurately show the soft fern paint in the bathroom, or the silken pine color in the front room. They are as lovely as their names sound, but to appreciate them, you'll have to visit in person.

Does anybody else still regularly read the comic strips? How about the one called Zits? Talking about having had a great day and getting lots accomplished, this morning's punch line is 'I totally carpe'd the snot out of this diem'. I can't wait for a day to use that line myself.