Building. Or destroying.

 This is as political as I get. Because it is a politically important day.

 I live in the seventh-fastest growing city in Canada.
True story.
Of course, with the pandemic, that statistic may have slowed somewhat.
But only slowed.
During my thrice-daily walks, I still see a lot of construction. Houses. Businesses. Streets and infrastructure.
At one of the three schools near me, a portable fence was erected a couple of weeks ago. Then men and machines appeared and scrabbling began. Great heaps of earth were thrown up and men and smaller machines boiled about the site.
Finally, their project progressed enough that an actual structure began to take recognizable shape.
Ah. A future ice rink.
One of several that passed through city planning a few months ago.
As I stood and watched those men in their so-productive activities, I was suddenly reminded of something my dad said years (and years) ago.
“Louie,” he said.
He called me Louie. Just FYI.
“Louie, everyone in the world has a need to make their mark. The weak do it by destroying. The strong do it by building. You have to decide which you are. One of the weak? Or one of the strong.
Will you make your mark by destroying?
Or by building?”
I’ve often thought about Daddy’s wise words.
Because, of course, he wasn’t speaking strictly of things created with hammers and nails.
He was also speaking of relationships.
Of business models.
Of governments.
Of living.
On this day of days, when so much is being decided by my beloved brothers and sisters to the south, I am again asking my father’s question: Are you going to make your mark by destroying?
Or by building.
My prayers are with you.