Yesterday, the Big Kahuna beam in our new house slid down into place and was nailed off. My son Caleb, daughter Heidi, and son Joshua, all helped put that beast into its pocket and nail it down. We lowered it gently down to its resting place using a HiLift jack from my Jeep, Festus. That GluLam beam is 6 3/4” x 24” x 28 feet long.

After we get done with a big milestone when building on our house, those present do a jig. We’ve done the First Floor Jig, Loft Jig, Stairsteps Jig, East Deck Jig, West Deck Jig, Quackaback Jig, and a host of other jigs. It’s all part of being part Irish, I guess. I’m half Irish, and half Swiss. I don’t know wether to fight, or just sit back and watch ’em go to it.

Anyway, Caleb and I nailed the beam off so it wouldn’t wobble, and we got up on top of it from opposite ends. After a while, we walked out to the middle of the ridgbeam, like Sir Robin Hood, and Friar Tuck , where we did the 1551 GluLam Jig. Why 1551? Caleb is 15 yrs. Old, and I am 51. What a cool age for me to be able to build my house with my son who is more of a man than a lot of guys I know who are twice his age.

1551 is a pretty perfect age combo for a father and son to build a chalet high in the mountains and do a jig on a ridge beam. Try some other combos and it might get a little scarey. Like 1661, 1771, or 1881. How about 1221? Now that freaks me out a bit.

So Caleb and I are doing the 1551 GluLam Jig on a beautiful sunny Colorado day, with high mountains surrounding us. Heidi is taking pictures, and so is a friend who just happened to stop by. (When you build a house like this one, people stop by all the time because its so cool and they want to see what new thing has happened since last time. Besides, my family has a lot of friends, and we all love each other. Loving people is one of the most incredible things we will experience here on earth.)

Caleb and I laugh about falling off of the ridge beam. “You only need enough space for the size of your footprint!” is Caleb’s favorite saying. At 6 ¾ inches wide, there isn’t even enough space for all of your footprint. Some of your toes are flapping in the breeze. It goes without saying that the 1551 GluLam Jig is more subdued than say, the Art Studio Jig, which went on so long that people were dropping out. Yep, that was an endurance contest.

Now that the roof is headed for being covered, we’ve got a lot of work to do before winter sets in. The house needs insulation, shingles, plumbing, electrical work, and drywall; we have to cut about 6 cords of firewood, and we need to find a new high groundclearance, fuel efficient, fourwheel drive, guided missle for our family car. I can’t wait to do the High Groundclearance Jig with my family on top of a new used Suburban…