dis nie ‘n werk nie dit is ‘n kunsvorm - van die rangskik van nuut gewalste staal tot in ‘n vorm met rooiwarm smeltpoele wat die koolstofmolekules vir ewig inmekaar smelt.

net soos klip deur eeue heen tot erts gedruk was, gebreek en gesmelt was tot ‘n vorm - staal.

Dis om ‘n raamwerk te sien oprys met nuwe blink boute, ‘n as vas te bout - dit haaks te meet - nuwe bande wat ruik na rubber, wit vellings op splinternuwe skoon gemasjineerde nawe met nuwe ghries - skoon reg om te loop en loop vir ongekende myle, sy nuwe baas se vrag te vat - sonder om ooit te kla - al is die vrag so swaar.

Dis om die swart metaal skoon te skuur tot ‘n blink gladde oppervlak, om elke hoek af te werk met ‘n hoekslypmasjien tot perfek.

Dis om ‘n laag verf oor te sit wat dit laat blink en skitter in die middagson, totdat dit droog is en so bly.

Dis om ligte, die oë, amper die seil van die wa aan te sit en die lig straal uit en flikker knipoog van plesier - amper asof die wa opgewonde is met ‘n tinteling in die lug oor sy nuwe ontstaan.

Dis om die nuwe eienaars se gesig te sien - sy drome - die horisonne wat hy gaan oplaai en verskuif - die hoop op ‘n toekoms om ‘n doel te bereik wat nie anders kan vergesalt sonder hierdie sleepwa nie.

Dis om te besef is erêns is ons deel van ‘n plan - te groot om te verstaan - maar die bevestiging van wat ons aanraak, nou en dan.

Ons is hier, dit is wat ons doen -

dit is ons bestemming -

net hier, en om te dien.

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Building a trailer is a calling

it's not a job, it's an art form - from the arrangement of newly rolled steel into a mold with red-hot melting pools that fuse the carbon molecules together forever.

just as stone over the centuries was pressed into ore, broken and melted into a form - steel.

It's seeing a frame go up with shiny new bolts, bolt an axle - measure it square - new tires that smell like rubber, white rims on brand new clean machined hubs with new grease - clean ready to run and run for untold miles, carrying his new master's load - without ever complaining - even though the load is so heavy.

It's to sand the black metal clean to a shiny smooth surface, to finish every corner with an angle grinder to perfection.

It's to apply a layer of paint that makes it shine and sparkle in the afternoon sun, until it dries and stays that way.

It's to turn on lights, the eyes, almost the soul of the wagon and the light radiates and blinks with pleasure - almost as if the wagon is excited with a tingling in the air about its new creation.

It's to see the new owner's face - his dreams - the horizons that he will raise and move - the hope for a future to achieve a goal that cannot otherwise be fulfilled without this trailer.

It's to realize that somewhere we are part of a plan - too big to understand - but the confirmation of what touches us, now and then.

We are here, this is what we do - 

this is our destiny - 

right here, and here to serve.