Maker of things

     My father was a maker of things. While in the 8th Air force he was a carpenter. During that time he built barracks, officers clubs,.things for bombers and parachute packers. As a child I watched him remodel and build houses. I was reluctantly  drafted into service on these projects.  He provided the after school and summer vacation entertainment for me. Thinking back on it now it was wonderful. I'd come home from school to find he had half of the house on jacks and was going to replace a portion of the foundation to the house. I got to use a shovel. I later used the same shovel to mix concrete. He would decide things, like the barn needed a new door, roof or an addition and he would solve the problem. I came home once to find he had gutted the kitchen and we were going to build cabinets. I remember turning the chicken house into a farrowing house. I remember standing in the front yard of our house when he began driving stakes into the ground. He had decided that was the new house was going to go. Thinking back it was always a little frightening and fascinating whenever my father grabbed a bunch of stakes and told me to bring the sledge hammer. From my father I learned about possibility thinking.
     My father's day job was selling tools to farmers in the northern half of Iowa. For many years he worked for a company as a commissioned salesman. In later years he owned the company. His desire to see people own the tools they needed grew into his owning his method of earning a living. Owning the tools you need and.owning  the company you work for were important concepts to him.
    Today I'm making stuff of my own choosing. My boys make stuff. It's just what we do.