Maria came calmly and competently to the rescue this morning, helping Claudia restore and re-construct the Gingerbread House I nearly destroyed Sunday afternoon. Maria has an eye for these things; she knew just what the walls were and the roof. She figured out how to get them all together while Claudia munched away on the swell and gum that decorates the gingerbread houses.

She and Tania were a formidable team, and I did good at bullshit and photos. Everyone was thrilled to have Zinnia there, and she showed no interest in eating gingerbread, which is usually not edible, not that this would give her the slightest pause.

I tried to help put the kits together yesterday, but I’m only good at buying them, not assembling them. It was a nightmare, and I was fired. Everyone kept pleading for Maria.

(Tania and Maria help repair the damage)

Most of the residents working on the project were still at breakfast when we arrived, and Maria was swamped with work, so we decided to focus on the house Claudia was trying to build, and Tania could explain what was done to the others.

Maria amazes me repeatedly with her ability to figure out things, assemble things, fix things that are broken. It was fascinating to see her and Tania figure out the Gingerbread houses and help Claudia – who was delighted by the candy she found to eat – put them all together.

Claudia is always up for anything. She is lots of fun and was the first resident to dare take my meditation class.

I found all of it incomprehensible. But I loved capturing the moment on my regular camera and my Leica. I’ll put those photos up later. We had great fun again today, despite my bumbling.

The trickiest part was getting the roof to stay stuck on the main house. Maria found a paper grip that holds that part together. She also scraped most of the “glue” off; it was keeping the” mortar” from sticking.

Watching Tania and Maria work together was humbling. Two strong and smart women.

Both are sizzling with energy and quick to figure things out and never, ever give up. But thanks to my photography, I didn’t feel useless or old. I had a role to play that was important. Somebody should record this work. It’s much more satisfying to capture the moment than to be the moment.

Three or four of the kits are now finished, about a dozen more to go. We have really helped to pep up this Mansion Christmas,s the decorations and LED lights are beautiful. More clay and drawing materials are on the way, to Memory Care and the main residence.

We voted to make the Gingerbread Project an annual Mansion Christmas event. If you want to help the Mansion Fund, it’s easy to do: Via Paypal, [email protected]; on Venmo Jon-Katz-13, or by mail Mansion Fund, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.