Archeological treasures.
Mark Dykstra, the stair dude.
Somehow, neither Cathy nor Mark could see the artistry in these newly-revealed stair treads.
What do stairs and dying have in common? I don’t know. Maybe they are both about landings.
The stair dude, Mark Dykstra, arrived early this morning to begin the demo – pulling the carpet and removing the treads which were put down when the house was built in 1929. There were some treasures below (workmen of every age drop their refuse in places that will “never be seen”, and then it becomes historically significant as an archeological find in 2012). Today’s gems were: 1. a workman’s glove (note: the middle finger has three holes worn through the leather, all others are fine. I always wear out the index finger first…hmmmmm); 2. a can of Prince Albert’s tobacco. On the back, the advertising proclaims that it was founded in 1907. The company was 22 years old and yet contemporary in 1929, and now 83 years later it’s an antique!; and 3. a tin can of about 20 ounces in volume with a hand-soldered lead seam. What could it have contained?
We left Mark doing the stairs and our much tattooed gardener, Sara, pruning the lilacs and went to a rousing send-off funeral for Rosie Wunder. On the way Cathy reminded me of TWO other funerals this week (John Konsleman and Bob Seeley). We just learned of Bob’s death this morning from a stroke that took him out on Saturday. His wife Rita (stout British stock) still did the readings at the 8:30 a.m. Mass at St. Marys on Sunday.
Cathy had to deliver a report at the Woman’s Literary Club this afternoon. She was surprised when the club honored her with a commendation (maybe the first since 1892) for her work organizing and archiving the papers and all the club records. I wasn’t surprised…
Patty Weed dropped by while I was outside swapping sprinkler heads. She has fixed her sights on a little house in the neighborhood which will need maybe $200K in repair in order to make it livable to her requirements. I joined a dozen others in persuading her to keep looking. However, those of you who know Patty…..
She is one-of-a-kind and we love her.