April 1, 2020
This was a pre-corona decision to create a little space for rest, relaxation, purification, etc. I've learned that with every "home" project, I need to make a quick assessment to ensure it's a project that I can finish in a reasonable time frame. Building a sauna seemed like a tall task for this active family of 5. Until, I realized, the project was already half done! You see, we had given up on raising chickens last year and I had built a rather large chicken coop that was essentialy a, human-sized, bird sanctuary. Now, it was looking more and more like a future sauna. Thus began the journey transitioning a palacial pen for poultry into a humid hothouse for Humans. It was a lot of work, but a jug of bleach, 6 inches of foil-backed insulation, several hundred feet of reclaimed cedar, stone and an epic wood-burning Finnish stove, the aromotic detox chamber was nearing completion...
It seemed things were going well, a project was being completed, which is unfortunately quite remarkable around here!
Actually, this was about the time corona turned into Covid 19...
I went to Costco to get a few things amidst the other shoppers, who were looking around as if they were about to be infected by someone. It was eerie the way they pushed their carts silently buying everything in sight. I turned, and headed into everyone's least favorite place in Costco/the World...the coldest room on the planet...yes, that's right, the room of Dairy. We needed to get our, monthly, triple stack of eggs. I think you know where this story is going, because we've all lived this in one form or another over the past 6 weeks. THE . EGGS . WERE . GONE. All of them. Organic, regular, white, brown, the egg beaters, the gelatinous ooze that the Vegans "love" was gone, all of it, GONE. Upon arriving home, I got to inform my wife that breakfast was going to be more of a chore than usual for "the children." An idea was hatched...If the world took away our triple stack of convenience, we must be able to supply our own. Yes!! It makes perfect sense, we need chickens...again!! But wait, we don't have a chicken coop, we have a cedar box with a stove in it now.
So there you have it, the current status is that we have a sauna, 15 chicks sitting in the middle of my woodshop (growing rather quickly, I might add), with another project starting: a chicken coop. And...to predict the future, about the time that these chickens are ready to lay eggs, the virus will be long gone and eggs will be back in the freakishly cold room in Costco. All the while, we will continue to Sauna and feed chickens daily.
If you are smiling right now, then mission accomplished. In life, tragedies abound, but opportunities to choose joy and find happiness amidst the chaos are in far greater supply. Often times it is a simple shift in perspective. It has been encouraging to see far more people on walks in our neighborhood, to receive calls from friends that are just "checking in" and to just slow down the frenetic pace of life. I encourage you to seek out the silver lining, to work hard and add value, yes, but to connect and love those around you (from 6 feet away, of course). Life is a gift, let's use it well!
At RW Anderson Homes, we are treating the current pandemic with concern and caution. Currently we are adding value to our many projects from home as we wait for construction to come back online. Our goal is to serve our customers, to grow and to contribute as a team to those around us. We hope and pray that all of you remain healthy through this time. We thank you for supporting our small business that seeks to make a big impact.
Give us a call at 206-383-8084, or email tim@rwandersonhomes.com
