
Marc and I were 20-some-feet in the air sitting on the principle rafters of two adjacent bents, setting a ridge beam as it was gently lowered into our hands from the nearby crane. “Well,” Marc said with a sly smile, “here we are again.” Marc and I have been setting ridge beams for 30 years together. This one was in Sisters, Oregon just a couple of weeks back. The sun that day was a merciful 96ºF (given that the day before had beat the 100ºF mark) and we were heading towards the end of a reasonable long crane day.


I still do raisings. But I’ll also admit that at 66 I find myself a bit more tired at the end than perhaps I used to be. Why is it that I’m still “riding the ridge” so many years later? Why is it that Marc, still more fit than 80% of Americans half his age (I kid you not), is willing to fly out from his home in North Carolina to help us out? The answers aren’t all too tough a riddle: we love raisings. As Marc said at the end of that particular day, “I feel such a sense of accomplishment.” It’s mostly that simple. It’s also the reason why our raising team is made up primarily of the same folks who cut and finished the frame in the shop. That sense of accomplishment, of bringing one’s work to completion, with a bonus scoop of circular learning.