I am absolutely gobsmacked* (straight in with a good old Brit informal word), yes completely gobsmacked!
Over the past couple of weeks my wife and I have been back and forth to Durham/NC - that drive between Emporia and Virginia Beach seems to defy the laws of physics, the further you go the further you still have to go, I am sure Brigadoon* is located somewhere off the 58 between Emporia and Norfolk! But I digress or whatever is the blogging equivalent of getting off subject. So I’ve been out of town quite a bit and when I went away the Great Hall was just a skeleton picked out in framing steel and open to the elements. I get back on blogging mission and, as the French say, “Voilà!*”I am gobsmacked and, if I know my blog followers, I think you will be as well. I have always found those “before and after” pictures you see in the media to be quite powerful, a wee caveat on that statement that I’m not talking about the before and after shots of celebrities’ nose jobs but rather those pictures that bring home the stark reality of global warming or some natural disaster so before and after pictures don’t tend to record a good thing but not so in the case of ODEC. At the top of this blog I've challenged my blogging skills to offer 3 pictures, ordered left to right. On the left a picture taken on 27th Nov depicting the bare bones of the Great Hall, it’s little more than the concrete pad with some steel framework. In the middle a picture taken on 8th Dec and already there’s a roof, much more framing and even external walls. On the right a picture taken yesterday (11th Dec) and there is the palladium window looking out onto Witchduck Road, albeit without frame and glass but nevertheless clear for all to see. I think it looks rather fine. That little series of before and after pictures record what I can only call amazing (and that comes with a good slice of Brit understatement) progress over a mere 14 days, from a concrete pad edged with steel to the palladium window. Progress such of this does not just happen. As the little picture gallery at the end of this blog shows, there has been a mesmerizing mix of trades and contractors on the site over the past few weeks. All working to a construction dance that’s been carefully choreographed by Scott Crumley who when not getting stuck in with saw, Bobcat (that’s a very small bulldozer), dumpster truck or helping the Tuesday Yard Crew is all over the site checking, directing and correcting. I could not end this blog without mentioning the wonderful examples of forklift trucks we have working on site. I confess my first “love” will always be the yellow heavy roller, but then there was the brooding power of the concrete pump and the magnificent ingenuity of the concrete curb extruding machine but for now it’s the age of forklift truck and what a magnificent display they are putting on, well that’s all expect the large orange one that’s stuck axle deep in mud just outside Parish Administrator’s Office window - but maybe that’s for the telling at another time. Stay safe and stay healthy, David Beach. “Gobsmacked”: Generally, gobsmacked refers to something so shocking that it leaves you utterly speechless. Although written examples of the word gobsmacked date from only the last eighty years or so, it is highly likely that the word was used in spoken language before that time. “Brigadoon”: The legend of Brigadoon is the story of a mythical village in the Scottish Highlands. The village became enchanted centuries ago remaining unchanged and invisible to the outside world except for one special day every hundred years when it could be seen and even visited by outsiders. As I now know, the village of Brigadoon isn’t in the Scottish Highlands but is actually located somewhere off the 58 between Emporia and Norfolk “Voilà” French meaning “there it is” or “there you have it”
1 Comment
Mal Higgins
12/17/2020 06:13:50 am
That is a great montage of photos, before and after, at the top and bottom of the post. Yep, gobsmacked or bedazzled--the speed with which the framing, drywall, tyvek, and roof went on is amazing.
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AuthorDavid Beach is our Building Project Manager, and has been an active part of our parish family for more than a decade. He is retired from NATO and the British Army and is a joy and blessing to all of us. Archives
July 2021
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