Potential

I just finished pulling down the rest of the wall and bagging up it all up, taking a break now to write this paragraph before I carry it all outside--a total of 50 bags from several days of work, weighing about 40 lbs each, or about one ton of wall. Back to work...

OK, It took about an hour to carry out the debris and then to move all of the bags to the street--the pickup guys are really going to love me.

I like the look of the bare walls--peaceful and clean after many years of undisturbed rest. A bare room is always new, always full of potential, never bad on the inside (or at least never beyond redemption).

Inexplicably, at the rear of the tub area there is a stud cut at a very odd angle and fit into place with a cabinet maker's precision, a real work of art. These joints have been in the darkness for almost 100 years and with no one to appreciate them.

Note to the carpenter: thanks from brightening up my day--you are my friend. I hope your life was a happy one. Sorry I can't shake your hand and have you explain this mystery to me.