New Addition, Mildred the Mixer

I put work into two categories: constructive work and scut work. In the first category work constructs a product that has some lasting value, like this concrete work putting in new steps at our West Linn house. On the other hand, things like household chores, while necessary, produce nothing of lasting value except a temporarily better condition. Construction work gives me great satisfaction, and I consider the opportunity to do it a fortunate privilege. So now I have Mildred the mixer to help me construct more things.

I love Mildred dearly even though she is adopted and not new. She came from a guy in Newberg who has a day job but loves casting concrete objects as a hobby—fountains, statues, horses, etc. He is a horse lover who wants to own a horse ranch someday so most of what he casts is directed to the horse people market.

His brother also is dedicated to a hobby, that of creating molds for concrete casting. He creates so many new molds, his brother doesn't have enough time to cast them all, and, of course, he has his own favorite castings he likes to do, like cowboy statures. Such is the natural, constructive powers of the human species.