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So when I’m not remodeling, playing with the kids, or on a date with my wife (rare these days!) I like to read. A fave is South and (among other things more notable) it’s about a ship called The Endurance and its 1914 voyage to Antarctica. It was so named for its captain, Ernest Shackleton. The Anglo-Irishman’s family motto was Fortitudine Vincimus, Latin for “By Endurance We Conquer.”
The punchline–and this doesn’t give away the book–is that Endurance gets caught in the ice, crushed and sunk. It takes a while so everybody climbs off. And that’s where the story of actual endurance begins.
Ships and Fixing Old Houses
What does Endurance have to do with fixing our old house? Well, I’ve needed extra helpings lately. I’m no explorer, but I’ve found that I’m tying knot after knot in the end of my rope. I’m not even done one project and I have to start another to meet various magazine and tradeshow deadlines for articles and appearances.
In other words, I’m busy like everyone else.
And the holidays are upon us. It’s time to reflect and to look forward. And to live for today. And get the kids to bed and school and…and…and…oh, right, and the sill plate in my mud room’s wood framed wall is powder. So instead of moving forward with drywall and cabinets, I’m reframing the walls and engineering new-found storage options. In other words, I’m doing what I call the Old House Shuffle: going backwards to gain ground.
And I know you are too. Your bathroom is blown out. You have flooring acclimatizing under your menorah, paint cans haloing your Christmas tree.
Stay the Course in Your Old Home Projects
Whether your New Year’s Resolution is to dive into that big new project or to finish whatever is left over from last year, you’ll need demo bars, a table saw, and a finish nailer. And you’ll need that X-Factor–endurance to see whatever it is through.
So here’s wishing you good Fortiudine in the New Year.
