Up to Germantown

I took the train from Philly to Penn Station and then rode the Empire Line up the Hudson Valley from there, arriving in Hudson around 6:30pm. Picked up by the groom and his bride with her father in a big red truck. It was great to see Mike and Caroline as 5 months had passed since they wished me well as I returned to the East Coast from SF after NYE. Hugs all around and then straight to work - a theme of the weekend. One of the best in my life.

After stopping off at Lowe's for some concrete, it was back to the house in Germantown at sunset, where we/they proceeded to finish off the foundations of the tower of love/ marriage gazebo.

Mike was an intrepid site manager and yet retained an incredibly upbeat demeanor despite the constant mistakes of his crew of unskilled laborers which at this point consisted of me and his cousin (cooper), and brother (Ben). Jim, his uncle, an older, more experienced architect, worked under Mike's command with true appreciation for Mike's vision, which for me, at this point, was hard to envision.

Here is mike engraving the foundation with a big "M+C" as a shout out to his phenomenal bride.

From there it was a fun dinner with another cousin (Gates) rolling in late while I was getting to know Caroline's father, Chris as he shared his plethora of sailing stories and some great tips on becoming a more active and better sailor. The night ended with Coop, Gates, Donahue and I all laughing around the fireplace. As I went to bed, I saw a Traveling Willburys cassette and stereo next to my bed. As I used to listen to this same album, day after day, during eighth grade, I put it on. Oddly enough, I couldn't hear it, so I turned it up until I could. This was met with a resounding "HICKS!", opening my door and walking out, I heard a cacophony of sound, as Bob and Tom Petty railed out in their distinctive off-key way... "CONGRATULATIONS!" Everyone else in the house told me to shut up.

At least it was an appropriate word.

This was my bed.

The next day was 12 hours of work - with the corner posts being attached, flooring started and finished, scaffolding being raised and roof attached. During this time, the Bronxsville crew arrived and took care of the banister. Not much was spoken except for advice and commands, questions and answers given. We did our jobs to the best of our abilities. Only a few moments of note beyond the hard work and solid comeraderie. Mike fell of a wet ladder giving us all a scare, and Joey zipped the power line of the router, sending his NY compatriots fleeing to their cars out of fear of death and of Joms wrath. Jim, as always, gave a sardonic quip, and then revealed he had done as much about 10 times throughout his carear as a builder...

After a last minute rigging of a tarp over the tower to prevent rain from disrupting our ability to finish the roof on Sunday, we ate a delicious meal of Caroline's tri-flavored Ribs and despite our food coma, we launched into and aggressive two-hand touch, football game in the lights of the cars in the front lawn - a local tradition dating back decades.

By the time I was forced to leave the next day, we had the general components of the structure complete and some details finished. The rest, alas, was up to Mike...

However it ends up, we love Mike and Caroline and wish them all the best. Many of us will have the opportunity to show this support on Saturday when they are married in a, hopefully, finished version of what you see above. They rock!