“Craftsmanship isn’t like water in an earthen pot, to be taken out by the dipperful until it’s empty. No, the more drawn out the more remains.”
― Lloyd Alexander, Taran Wanderer (goodreads.com)
Labor Day Weekend is traditionally the last celebration of summertime. But this Friday, when the car thermometer registers 107 F (41.6C) – pulling into my San Diego driveway, I am ready for the heat to go away. Even my brother-in-law (residing in Yuma, Arizona) would agree, it is a little warm for San Diego. On a Friday afternoon, welcoming a holiday weekend with a nap in air conditioning sounded inviting. After four decades of summers with ceiling fans, wet rags, and an ancient room air conditioner as our only alternative to heat and humidity, the installation of air conditioning has been a gift.
A knock on my front door waked me from my late-afternoon nap. My friend and neighbor is asking for my assistance with furniture – and wants to show us his newly-refinished wood floors. The craftsmanship of his sixty-five year old flooring, hidden for decades under carpeting amazes us. The labor of the men he hired to do the sanding, patching and refinishing was well worth the money spent.
Blessed are all who fear the Lord,
who walk in obedience to him.
2 You will eat the fruit of your labor;
blessings and prosperity will be yours. Psalm 128: 1-2 (NIV)
Though he is recently retired, we have the same experience of military service and decades of labor. We look forward to spending Labor Day relaxing with friends. Yet for the first time in decades, both our families will venture out to spend hard-earned money. This is a major consumer holiday for furniture and automobile salespeople; my neighbor needs some furniture that will last them in retirement; and we need to find a well-maintained nearly-new car to replace my wife’s vehicle.
After forty years or more of work, being prudent with your finances means a lot more than it did to my twenty-year old self. Craftsmanship is what is important. Value and price are worth debating. And debt contracts, or exchanging savings for a good or service should be carefully weighed against the labor that was, or will be, exchanged for the couch, chair, TV or vehicle that appeals to us.
If all the cars in the United States were placed end to end, it would probably be Labor Day Weekend. Doug Larson (brainyquote.com)
It's a Dog's Life 