Remembering that week we laid 12,000 bricks for a church in Tulsa

It was 2008, and the crew was just me, my cousin, and an old guy named Frank who taught us everything. We mixed mortar by hand for the first two days because the machine broke, and Frank just kept saying 'builds character' every time we groaned. The weather was perfect, cool mornings and no rain, and by Friday we stood back and it just looked right, every line straight as an arrow. Anyone else have a job from years back that just felt smooth start to finish?

3 comments

3 Comments

rowanellis1mo ago

That story about the bricks reminds me of a podcast I heard about old school tradespeople. They talked about how the rhythm of a good crew and a clear task can make even hard work feel satisfying. The host said it creates a kind of muscle memory you never forget, like your hands just know what to do. Your bit about mixing mortar by hand totally fits that.

phoenix_carter1mo ago

Muscle memory is real. You can leave a trade for years and your hands still remember the motions. Mixing mortar by hand has a specific feel for when the ratio is right, something you learn in your shoulders more than your head. Good crews develop a silent language based on that shared physical knowledge.

simonl1120d ago

Guess I've been using the wrong shoulders for my bowling technique then...