Gord greets me as I arrive panting from climbing the bluff. He places his measuring tape back into his tool belt and plops down on the newly painted pipe. “Home from school already? No homework?” That probably means I bug him too much. But hey, nothing can keep me away. It’s cool watching him work. I really like seeing the trestle part (steel beams around the pipe) getting repaired. And I especially like asking Gord questions. Gord studies the plans he keeps in a red binder. He flips pages back and forth like he’s confused about something. He wipes sweat from his neck. “You have to calculate for loading and size, right?” I ask. “Of course,” he says, frowning. “My science teacher says the welding is the most important part.” Welding, of course, is joining metal pieces together—fusing and hammering them. “Is that so?” His eyes are still on the plans.
