frame by frame

Out of all the steps in our forthcoming building process there was probably none that I was more excited about than the framing.  It's exciting to watch the bones of the house go up and take the form of what has been countless hours of sketching, daydreaming, revising, drawing, and decision making.  It's actually a small window of time in which you get to enjoy the bare timber of the house.  Everything else is really just finishes and details.  The frame is the true essence of the house.  The first round of lumber was delivered the Monday after Thanksgiving and the framers got started the day on the same day.  The first thing they did was measure and draw out all of the walls onto the foundation.  It was truly impressive to see just how precise these guys were.  And it's actually only gotten better since then.  The guys are on about their 8th day of framing and they are killing it!  It looks so great!  Today was the first weather delay in the framing process but the guys did get a little bit of work in before the rain started.  The rain falling on the exposed framing is a little unsettling but after a few google searches and some reassurances by those who've been through this before the concern has been scaled back to a managable level.  I suppose I'm the only one wanting to head back in the direction of severe drought.  Surely the farmers and river tubers will understand that some people are trying to build a house at this very moment.  So the framing is going as well as one could hope for.  Walking though the house as it stands now makes me want to go to the pantry, pull a bottle of 2010 McMurray Pinot Noir (from Sonoma Valley, not the Central Coast), set two glasses on the concrete island, pour the glasses half full, join Renata in the window seat, and enjoy the subtle tasting notes while M does her drawing at the table and we watch the oaks and cedars sway in the wind.  We're not quite there yet but one can always imagine.  Afterall, that's what this build really boils down to............imagination, vision, and the will to turn ink on paper into wood on concrete.  Most of the time a house is just a house but sometimes a house can be more than a house, but only if you feel so inclined..............