This was a "gray" day. The kind encountered when the first light of dawn grows no brighter as the hours pass. The sun finally peeked through the overcast just as it was setting, but that was not nearly enough brightness for my eyes. I tried one of the spots that I've been going to write about for a long time. Even the brilliance of the cameras flash barely cut through the goom of this long-deserted workshop.
Completion of winter preparations nears completion here at our home. Workbenches once clean as a "whistle" are now heaped with bits and pieces accumulated from the many tasks I've been accomplishing. Everything has to be cleared away before the final piece of work, vehicle prep for the long winter that comes. The pictures were taken in a forgotten workshop miles from our home. Tools still lay on the bench, amidst blown leaves and debris that has to encompass a minimum of fifty years of disuse. I was particularly fascinated by the array of bits and pieces still hung on nails above what was once a busy place. The person who worked here was a proud, orderly, and talented man. The variety of parts indicate that his expertise extended to mechanical stuff large and small. Even the wrenches are hung neatly beneath the bench, still in order the way I must assume they were the last time the space was in use. Roof caved in, doors falling off, and very little glass left in the windows due to the press of surrounding brush and trees, it could be called a "spooky" place by some. For me this is another of the mysteries which encourage exploration and speculation! I love the wheel hanging from the ceiling. That's an old one! Some childs vehicular conveyance or perhaps a carriage for the baby, a cast off that harkens back to pages in America's history long closed. I suppose if I walked out the door right now and nobody ever cleaned up the space in my cave it might look a lot like this in fifty years. Hammer handles would rot and their heads would rust, and the dust would deepen obscuring the scars left on the surface of the bench by tasks long ago completed. There was an entire rack of bits standing rusted in their holder. The type which went with what they referred to as a "brace & bit" affair for drilling wood. The block holding the bits was handmade, and each one was in order, except for one which was still in the tool set aside on the bench from the final project. I can never bring myself to move the articles around from where I find them, it feels as though that would somehow break the spell of the last presence to occupy the space. There was no wind to speak of this morning so the quiet within the confines of the old shop was overpowering in contrast to the music I have blaring from the speakers on the Ultra Classic while riding. Thinking back on the moment, I remember now that when I started up to leave I turned the music off, it seemed somehow inappropriate for the time just spent. I find myself, even now, praying for the person who last used that bench. Life was good for him, and he took pride in the many things he did. I've got to clean up my workspace before leaving for the week long journey that lies ahead. Just in case I don't make it back I don't want someone snapping pictures of the things I left undone. What we have is a limited number of years in which to get everything done that God would have us do. How we use those years is going to say much about who, how, and what we stood for. Even if we have never met a person we can tell by the things they have left behind much about them. So it is with my Savior. He has ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of His Father, God, and has left behind His Holy Spirit to reveal to us the things that are truly important in life. More than likely none of us will make the journey to the next life with everything nealtly cleaned up in this one. The guy who left behind this workspace had every intention of coming back to do more. So it is with our Savior. He is coming back to do even more! We've got some time, maybe we'll be a little closer to "finished" with our stuff than we are today, but more importantly is keeping the order and making certain we have all the necessary tools for our job. When all of the windows are broken and the world has reclaimed our space, it will be good to return and see clearly how well we ran the race. God bless, Preacher.
