APRIL 30, 2025 – Over the years we’ve had many guests at the Red Cabin. Very nearly all have been model visitors, who are good sports about most things and contribute admirably to the common welfare. Above and beyond these social conventions, a significant number of people have shown surprising initiative regarding various cabin projects.
But then years ago, Master Kim set a new standard. Master Kim, a good friend of our son Byron, is a Taekwondo master and instructor, who for Byron’s college years was a regular visitor at the Red Cabin—before Byron moved overseas. Master Kim and his young family were fun company, and we have many fond memories of our times together. Master Kim always brought lots of positive energy. Not only was he willing to lend a hand when asked, but he often took the first step when told about a new project that needed to be launched. He brought his own power tools and applied them skillfully whenever the need arose. He’d fix things that he saw were in need of repair, sometimes before I even knew about them.
Other guests have brought various project skills, from architectural to engineering to nautical repair to general construction.
But then arrived Jeff Oppenheim for a four-day working visit to the Red Cabin. The occasion was his first return to Grindstone Lake since he filled the critical role of my best man at the Boger-Nilsson wedding in June, 1983. As Jeff’s sojourn drew to a close, I realized that he had displaced Master Kim at the top of the podium. My regular readers are acquainted with Jeff’s contributions over the past three days, but today, the last of his all-too short visit, he outdid himself. Frankly, I’m so exhausted from following his lead, I must defer a full account of his exploits to tomorrow’s entry. Part of the reason for today’s truncated post is that I must wake up in five hours to take Jeff to the airport for an early flight out. To wake up, I must first be asleep, and to be asleep, I must now—without further delay—find my way to Nod.
Come back tomorrow for a more detailed account of Jeff’s contributions to Red Cabin projects. (Cont.)
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© 2025 by Eric Nilsson
© 2025 by Eric Nilsson
