Adam.

I thought it would be a good time to write about our lead carpenter Adam, as he celebrates his birthday this week. He has been with Applewood professionally for 7 years. He has been with the Carpenter for 26 years! He is our nephew. He was introduced to construction dirt at a very early age. One time the Carpenter didn't have a pacifier handy so he used his finger which was just a tad dirty. Adam got it very clean which didn't make his mother very happy!(photo below)…


When Adam was young we bought our present property which we did a huge remodel on. Adam and his brother Andrew had fun helping "gut" the place! From there he took on mowing our acre of grass and helping the Carpenter with an abundance of projects from cutting, splitting, stacking wood, to cutting down trees. (I guess it's appropriate he works with wood now!) He and the Carpenter also rebuilt the transmission on our lawn tracker. 

The Carpenter has mentored Adam in many ways over the years. It hasn't always been easy for either. The relationship of uncle and nephew has had to be protected and honored yet at the same time… the standards, expectations, and craft have to be maintained. Somehow their relationship has survived and now working side by side as adults is becoming more solid. I'm sure years from now Adam will look back at all that his uncle poured into his life with fresh appreciation. Not everyone cares as much as the Carpenter. 

In 2006 we bought an old house in downtown White Bear Lake and Adam and a couple other nephews gutted and cleared away the debris. It was hard work. Dirty work. Growing up work. Work that makes a boy strong. The kind of work kids used to do growing up on farms before computers and social media. He got first hand experience in the craft of construction on this project. He was exposed to all areas of construction– the good, bad and ugly. The tedious dirty very unglamorous work. He stuck with it.

When he announced he wanted to go to school to become a carpenter, the Carpenter tried to change his mind. It's a tough life. And it's brutal on your body. Which catches up with you by the time you hit your 50's. Long hours outside in the heat and cold. But that didn't seem to deter Adam from his goal. 

The Carpenter tried to steer Adam towards engineering. He's got that kind of mind. Which now comes in very handy on our projects. He is very good at problem solving. He brings a calmness to the job site which helps keep things steady during intense times like when directing a huge roof truss into place, or tying in a new roof section into an old roof. He can see problems in angles and lines of things. He can calmly come up with good solutions when they happen. And happen they do when we build a new addition onto an older home. It's like working a puzzle. He's good at puzzles. He's also conscientious and quiet on the job which is a good thing for interacting with our customers in their homes.

So here we are. Who would have thought that serious little guy would end up continuing to be an important part of our present day. 

Happy Birthday Adam!
~ the Artist 

The Carpenter and baby Adam.

Young Adam helping with demo at Applewood Headquarters.

Teenage Adam standing in front of the downtown White Bear Lake house.

A detail guy.

Adam "studying"