What have we learned?

What have I learned, now that we’ve done this twice?

Well, let’s start with something that I was always pretty sure of.  Get the installation done early.  This year we had a bolt misalignment.  Fortunately, it took very little time to get past that one, but even last year this was my greatest fear.  That we would get to the point of installation, and I would have failed in some small measurement that would throw off the whole thing.  Glad to have that out of the way.  Moving on, what else?

I have learned what the magic words are to get the fabrication done on my timeline.  Although I gave a date of my arrival, the desired installation date, and the date of my departure, Completion of the fabrication didn’t happen until I called and demanded it. Relaying that an unveiling event was planned for two days out.  Can I get the steel please?  Someone lost track of my gentle timeline.

So far, all of my 9 standing pieces are in the Quincy unit of the park. We may need a map for those who visit the site to see them. A story on the new art was published in the park visitor guide for this season.  One of my friends there said that she visited and even the employees didn’t know where all of them were.  We may need to remedy that!

I have also learned how spoiled I was last year in the generous offer from Sue Erickson.  She offered me a place to stay that allowed me to be closer to the job site.  Her place was amazing and allowing me to stay gave me time to decompress and reflect on the project as it was happening.  My parent’s house is an hour away and staying with them allowed them to dictate much of my time while I was there. Don’t get me wrong, I love visiting them, but in this sort of job, I really appreciated the peace and quiet a private space provided. I am totally grateful for their support, couldn’t do this without them. I also appreciate how proud they are. It’s really sweet.

Lastly, this is not a vacation.  Maybe one is in order sometime soon.