Sunday, January 20, 2008

Home Improvement

There was a story that we pondered and discussed in philosophy class in college that I often come back to. It goes like this: A wooden ship is built,given a name (we'll call it the Sea Maiden) put to sea, and eventually repaired. And over time each of the original timbers is replaced. In fact at some point there is not one bolt or board or anything at all left from the original construction. So the question is, is it still the Sea Maiden? Is it still same boat even though there is nothing left of the original Sea Maiden?

Ok, well we haven't replaced everything in our house, but it's beginning to feel a little like the Sea Maiden. Last summer we began an extensive remodel on our basement which included completely replacing our deck, most of the siding on the south side and everything in the interior downstairs. Now we're slowly trying to complete the finish work ourselves -- with generous help from my parents. They've been doing plaster work and painting this week and Chris is down there hanging doors as I type. Yesterday we nailed down the details of having our fence replaced, bought a new sink and faucet for the bathroom downstairs, and decided that we might keep the old fireplace face and just add a gas insert to it. Beck and Yogi put on their orange hardhats and went around with their tape measures yelling, "Right there!" Always helpful, those boys!

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