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Labor Day    

2 September 2024

On the first Monday of each September, Americans stop to honor "the social and economic achievements of American workers" and pay "tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity and well-being of our country," as the Department of Labor reminds us it.

In the basement of the house our paternal grandfather and his friends built with their own hands, there was this odd device that captured our imagination when, as a child, we'd spend a couple of weeks with Grandma every summer.

We liked the powerful momentum a turn of the handle imparted to the spinning wheel when we cranked its handle. But we had no idea what it was for. And Grandma knew better than to explain it to us.

When Grandma passed away and the house was sold, our father moved the stone grinder to his own house. We suspect it was never actually used there.

But when it came time to sell that house, we too were unwilling to let this heirloom remain behind. So we unscrewed it from the wall and brought it home still with no idea what it did. Or even where to put it.

We found a place. And we learned it was a tool for sharpening things like drill bits and knives. Which we have around here.

We're a worker who treasures our tools.

Whether it is a rake, a paint brush, a mezzaluna, an M2 MacBook Pro, Photoshop, Lightroom, Photo Mechanic or Keyboard Maestro each tool in this house makes our life a little easier. Enjoyable in fact. Each one helps us get some job done well when we use it the right way.

And there is a right way. And a wrong one.

The right one takes less time and endures. Grandpa died in 1957 after raising three kids in that house but that house still stands. A few years ago a contractor bought it for his family and did some remodeling of the 100-year-old interior, we learned from a friend who lived down the block.

Today we celebrate the people who built the world we inhabit. And in this house we will remember one of them with a spin of that old stone grinder.

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