I started today with the words that The Lady told me to think about yesterday buncing around in my little head…
Without water drops, there can be no oceans; without steps, there can be no stairs; without little things, there can be no big things! – Mehmet Murat Ildan.
When I woke up, I was still sad about all of my shirts being packed in a box while the new part of my house is being destructed.
Then I thought that is such a small thing. I am getting a new room. Soon all of my shirts will be neatly hung in my new room. And, Mr. Guy, The Lady, and I will have lots more space to play and have fun.
The Lady told me that when the destruction is done, our good friend Ms. Joni will come visit us and we can all play together and make stuff in our new craft room. All of the sudden, what I felt was a big thing began to feel smaller and smaller. Then I wasn’t sad anymore!
There were people working at our house early this morning. Mr. Guy said that they were putting stuff in the walls and the ceiling so that we would stay warm in the winter and cool in the summer.
The same thing is going to keep us both warm and cool? I guess that is like the something seeming like big deal at one time and then small at another.
When the workers left, I asked if I could go see what they did today.
The first thing I saw was a ladder.
I wanted to climb up. I took the first step.
It felt like a big step, but then I looked up and realized it was a long way to the top. I kept taking one step at a time until I made it all the way up that ladder!
…without steps, there can be no stairs…
I guess I was still thinking about yesterday.
Then I saw Mr. Paul. He is our most important worker. He knows everything about making new rooms. I asked him if he would show me his tools of destruction. He looked at me funny and said, “Tools of Destruction?! Don’t you mean tools of Construction ?”
Hmmm…I don’t know. Do I?
Mr. Paul explained that construction means that you are putting things together, that you are making things. Destruction means that you are taking them apart or tearing them down. The Lady gave me an easy way to remember which word was the right word to use. She pointed out that something had to be built before it could be torn down. So construction has to happen before destruction. She then told me to think about the alphabet. I started singing “A B C D…” She stopped me right there. “C comes before D just like construction comes before destruction.”
Well that’s handy, I thought to myself.
“Oh! I get it! Like clean comes before dirty and chicken comes before dumplings. Does it also mean that cookies come before dinner?”
The Lady told me that remembering the difference between construction and destruction by thinking about the alphabet was just one step…that did not lead to an entire staircase. I think I understand what she was saying.
Mr. Paul knew that I was sort of confused by this whole conversation so he stepped in, more than one step but not a whole flight of stairs, and showed me some of his construction tools.
First, a hammer and a tape measure. Mr. Paul said that a hammer could be used for both construction and destruction. Right now he was only using it for construction. His tape measure has lots of lines and numbers. I think it is used for con-fusion rather than construction.
Then Mr. Paul showed me the tool that he uses to cut wood. It was big, loud, and kind of scary with all of those sharp pointy parts.
Ah! You cut the wood to destruct it! C before D.
The Lady explained that cutting the wood did not “destruct” or destroy it. She went on to say that if I had not been confused by the measuring tape I would know that sometimes you have to cut wood so that it is the right size to be used for construction.
Now it’s D before C…Divide and then Conquer. This furry little blue and orange monster is never going to be able to keep all of these rules straight!
Once Mr. Paul divides and conquers the wood, he uses a fancy nail gun to make walls and doors and ceilings.
Oh wait. C before D. Maybe the ceilings come before the doors.
However it works, I had fun learning about all of the tools Mr. Paul is using to construct the new part of our house. But all the C and D rules exhausted me.
C before D. Curiosity before Drained.