Worry and work

I was twenty one or twenty two and had changed careers.  I had quit being a carpenter's helper and gone to work for Dave Miller as a mason's helper.  Pretty quickly I mastered the helpers job to the point I could keep the bricklayers going and had time to get on the wall and lay bricks.  It wasn't long before my boss would leave me behind after the crew was done with the foundation and the brick veneer to build the chimney with a helper. 

This was a big deal to me.  I felt very honored by his trust and a little intimidated with the task he entrusted to me.  I was used to working with scaffold by that point and was comfortable with being up in the air.  Somehow I could not get confident that I was doing the job adequately to the point that the house would not burn down when the fireplace was used.  I don't know why there was all this uncertainty in me but I would build chimneys in my sleep and it seemed like a special way to worry about things. 

I was always a worrier.  I was very motivated to the task of bricklaying though.  With only a high school education I was making $6 an hour when most men in blue collar jobs were making $5 an hour.  I needed the money and was glad to have the job.   

Greg would have been two and Jen was born or about to be born.  Life was good.  I had not met God yet and was blissfully pursuing my own dreams.  Most of them were good dreams but laying bricks in my sleep was tiring.  I always felt better actually doing the brick laying than dreaming of doing it. 

I thought about this today working with Greg and Peter.  They were worrying the scaffolding and I was enjoying the moment.  I don't know why I never worried about the scaffolding.  I just seemed to see what would work for some reason.