Ben was over today. He built a new door for Maria’s studio, designing it so it could be insulated and he spent a few hours building it, putting in a lock, measuring trim so it would be airtight. Ben built some storm windows for Maria and this door and the studio is snug and warm and ready to be the place of creation it was destined to be for my amazing wife, a gifted artist.

Maria jokes that I am getting depressed because Ben’s work her is winding down, and I suppose it is true. I love Ben. I love his honesty and generousity and I respect his  great craftsmanship and hard work. I know very few people who do as many things as well as Ben. He has been a friend and a magical helper for us. I can’t even recount all the things he did to make our home liveable and make it possible for the animals to come. He is painstakingly honest and we could not have afforded all of this work right now if Ben hadn’t been around to do it. and done it so quickly and well.  And yes, we are good friends. We talk easily and openly with one another and gossip like high school kids.

Maria and I talk often about how we can reward Ben, and the truth is, Ben is not comfortable with praise or rewards. He loves what he does and that is his thanks. I am still plotting to get a Kindle Fire into his hands – his wife says he will never use it, but I’m not so sure. I am always telling him he needs to pay a bit more attention to the 21st century, although his life is simple and good the way it is. I am lucky to have such a good friend, and have made few friends I am as close to as Ben. Oddly, we just seem to understand each other, and like Maria, Ben knows a great secret to dealing with me – he ignores me and does what he wants.

Ben has come to help us so many times – when roofs fall apart, washers and dryers shut down or flood, birds fly through windows, things have to be moved. I will not soon forget the sign of Ben streaming down the state highway with all of our belongings in his big open trailer. He got us moved for about $500. His work is all over this farm, it is as much his in a way as mine and Maria’s.

I am grateful to Ben, and I while miss him, for sure. But it is time for me to get on with my life and work, I have been moving and scrambling and settling in long enough.  And as he told me this morning, “hey, I’m just a phone call away.” I am sure we will have many occasions to call him.  We are firming up plans to play chess this winter on Sunday afternoons.