By early 1999, exterior finishing was being completed for the phase-one buildings. The progress has been slow and trying, problems and delays as predictable as night and day. Interior work has started, room by room, detail by detail. It was a difficult and frustrating endeavor attempting to relate to the workers the ideas of balance and symmetry, details and aesthetics. Eventually, most caught on, while a few, trained in the "aesthetics" of poultry-house carpentry, simply could not appreciate what I was trying to convey.
The gazebo project was
a first for Victor. Indeed, more than any of the new projects
asked of him, this was the most challenging. And, he frowned and
labored, frowned and labored, with the sketches for the beam work.
I needled him about how much supporting wood work went into it,
and, how much time. The small structure took almost two weeks
for 6 workers.
The bell atop the guardhouse/station was an antique-find in Charles Town, West Virginia.
