This week is a great week! Our complex is getting a new parking lot and we have front row seats to construction vehicles all week long (insert fist pump here). To be honest, when the complex manager stopped by to tell us about the upcoming project I’m pretty sure he thought I was a little crazy. “New parking lot? Ripping the old one out completely, lots of loud construction vehicles and we’ll have to park on the street?! SUPER!”
My mom used to intentionally walk us or drive us to construction sites to watch the process. Between those trips and reading the book What Do People Do All Day? by Richard Scarry a zillion times, well, I’ve been fascinated by construction ever since. The first day of construction I reluctantly took P to school and got ready for work, but I really wanted to call us both in sick, sit on the lawn, and watch the guys and vehicles work all day. Instead we took a few minutes to see how things were going before heading to school. We watched one vehicle rip up the old pavement and another load the chunks into a dump truck. By the time we came home that night they’d already paved a good part of the parking lot.
Night before last I brought him out as the sun was setting so he (we) could soak up a little more construction. We watched the guys fill the steam roller with water from the garden hose, slowly roll back to work and flatten some asphalt. As we walked up, one of the men working said, “It’s good you bring your son out here to see so he’ll go to college!” I laughed, but P said to me, “I’m not going to college. I’m going to work at Halloween City.” Not really the future we envision for him…
Last night they finished the paving. Today they’re painting bright yellow lines. Now we have a beautiful (as far as lots go) black lot of perfection. Soon the parking lot project will be over and we’ll be looking for our next field trip. I think we’ll start at Halloween City. We’ll have to talk with the employees so P can get a feel for what working at Halloween City is really like. 😉
I know what you’re talking about! My dad, a member of the International Ironworkers Union, would take us to see his current ironwork job (unfortunately, he did not take us to Greenland, where he had once worked on a defense project).
We had seen smoke stacks with all the construction rigging, tall buildings, bridges, or just about anything with metal support. Dad explained it all. We were naturally excited (scared and proud, too) to imagine him walking the I-beams so high up, or welding on bridges.
Dad always had an appreciation for skilled laborers and the hard work they did–and he didn’t hesitate to stop on our trips to explain what they were doing.
I’m glad to see you, too, are feeding P’s curiosity, and honoring the work others do.
I’m certain P’s children also will be excited, scared and proud when he takes them to his place of employment at Halloween City!
Ha ha ha!Yes, I’m sure his children will be scared 🙂 What a remarkable thing your dad did for you!
Can’t wait till you go to Halloween City. Be prepared to leave with scary accessories.