Continued fortuitous weather; how long can the good luck last? While helping Chuck Eblacker launch a project in Rochester, New York last week, wispy, goat beard clouds decorated blue skies. Bursts of wind periodically blew through, cooling our brows and raining wild cherries on our caps from the overhead shade trees.

Between two wildflower meadows, in a glade of hardwoods, Chuck has designed a personal park for his clients. Crescent shaped seating walls will cascade toward a circular folly. The turret-like construction will have a doorway and windows framed in recycled architectural stone. The bulk of the building will be realized in reused, sandstone wall stone and granite boulders found on site.

Working alongside a fellow DSWA certificated craftsman is always a pleasure. Because we subscribe to the same principles of dry stone construction, the structure of the wall being built is of a consistent nature. At the same time, there’s room for personal expression in the choice of individual stones and how they fall into relationship with the stones around them. Good craftsmanship, when applied within a given framework, results in a high quality product. Oliver, the debonair dachshund, was there to add some class to the work site and bark away any crows that violated his airspace.