Computers are being mean to me today. I had all my notes typed up for what I want to say tomorrow. I also started putting together a description of today’s activities. My computer ate all of it.

But we carry on. Kristin concluded Morning Devotion this morning with the Sucipe, a prayer familiar to anyone who has ever attended a Jesuit University,

and a famous prayer of John Wesley.

Lots of different groups come down to work on houses, and naturally they vary in talent and intent. One in particular caused us to roll our eyes on a few occasions, but they do not seem to have been around in recent years.

Our group is one of the better ones. We are far from perfect. In the houses we have worked on since I joined the crew, we have left tools buried in walls that were dropped and could not be retrieved, had to red0 a roof or two, misaligned tiles, sustained lots of creative physical injuries, and plenty of others. We have also accomplished a great deal in the past years.

It helps that most of our group have been homeowners, so they have some idea of what houses need and problems that need fixing. We are also a talented bunch. We have brought down contractors, engineers, and electricians. And of course we have benefitted from years of experience. We have made enough mistakes to learn better. But most importantly, we care about what we are doing.

This current house looks better than most. In the kitchen, J.D. is taking care to fill the gap left between two cabinets.

I personally am particular about staining and finishing. I have refinished enough pieces of furniture to figure out how to do it reasonably well, and I hate drip marks and mistakes (except on louvered doors. Louvered doors are a pain. They are just hopeless,)

This particular house has solid wood doors, as opposed to the hollow ones that most of the houses have. I do not know if that is the reason, but the doors look noticeably better.

Kristin and Charlotte are painting the porch railings. They were delighted to find that the owner chose Northwestern purple.

Many of the homeowners have added details to personalize their homes. On one of the houses we worked on years ago, the owner spent a little extra to buy a bright pink roof vent. When we left for the week, the vent stood out like a spotlight on the pale yellow siding. Most of us thought it was a little over the top. When the house was finished, she added other details. The porch railing was the same color, as were the front door, the large rocks marking the width of the driveway, and the flamingos on the lawn. The overall effect was cute and attractive.

The house that we finished up last year has a custom painted mailbox. Where a number of homeowners have added garden sheds to their property to hold lawnmowers and the like, this one has added one large enough to serve as a garage.