Extreme Makeover Home Edition-Maynard: Monday

Yesterday morning, the house came down. This morning as I was leaving for work, the cement mixers lumbered down Elm Court. Time to lay the slab foundation. When I got home at around 6:30pm, there was a fully built house. I don’t know how that’s possible, but clearly it is. Dozens of workers are swarming over it like blue t-shirt clad ants with white hard hats. People have asked me for pictures. Sorry, I’m a word guy, not a picture guy. However, here’s one picture from our walk over to the site, just a few minutes ago.

In addition, another neighbor with a good view from down Elm Court has some great shots from the past couple days, so I’ll defer to him for the majority of the visuals. What neither he nor I can convey is the sound of being in a 24-hour a day construction zone. Hammers, saws, generators, voices, it’s quite noisy. And at night, there are the very bright lights that would be at home in a stadium. Normally, I’d be pissed. For this project, though, I’m just in awe. What they’re doing is not to be underestimated. It’s nothing short of incredible.

What I’m referring to isn’t the engineering or carpentry feat, though. Sure, it’s definitely impressive to tear down a house and build a whole new one in a few days. But with enough concerted effort, manpower and equipment, and people willing to work 24/7, it’s obviously doable. No, what I’m talking about is what this represents. Although this is taking place in an intense, compressed timeframe, the essence of what’s happening across the street from our back yard used to be considered normal. It’s how we as a people once behaved on a routine basis. Ever heard of barn raisings? Helping your fellow neighbor build his house wasn’t unusual in times gone past, because when you were done he was happy to help you with yours. Ever heard of Habitat for Humanity? My time with AmeriCorps gave me a glimpse into the latent goodness in people, and how a small thing like creating a new community garden or a group getting together to rebuild a neighborhood can strengthen the greater society. We’re in awe now because in today’s day and age, this is unusual. The stories we’re used to seeing invariably involve senseless crimes, narcissism and venality. Nobody’s being murdered in this story, though. No crimes are being committed. Kids aren’t being brutalized. This is putting into action the dynamic shown in the movie “Pay It Forward”. Right now, in front of our eyes, Maynard is a community practicing random acts of kindness. People aren’t used to that anymore.

So when we see the real thing acted out so vividly in front of our eyes, we’re rendered nearly speechless. It is impressive, no doubt about it. Noisy as hell, but impressive.