These days, one can often find a Sister (or two or three!) standing at one of our dining room windows with the curtains pulled off toward the side. Perhaps we just happen to be passing through the dining room, or lingering after breakfast, or taking a quick glance before lunch. But no matter when or why we are in the dining room, it seems that the curtains call, and we respond. Sometimes even dinner conversation will pause as someone gazes toward the window across the room, and says “Look…” We all turn, and look.
As often as we migrate to these windows, you’d think the view was one of ocean waves, mountain vistas, towering waterfalls, a gentle snowfall, a championship game, and a crackling campfire all wrapped up into one spectacularly mesmerizing scene. But no, it’s even better than that, and more scenic than anything a travel magazine could dream up – at least to our eyes – because to the west, our dining room overlooks the site of a new elevator being slowly lifted toward the crest of Ottilia Hall. To the north, rising like dough, is a new kitchen and Retreat Center dining room. Both scenes are spectacular, mesmerizing…and right outside our dining room windows.
To say that we are interested in the buildings is an understatement. But we are also fascinated by the construction process itself, what the workmen are doing and how they are doing it, the skill involved, the care being rendered. Measuring, and measuring twice… A steady hand on a cycling saw… A sure foot scaling a scaffold… A practiced eye reading a level… A ‘know-how’ that knows how to take brick and steel and mortar and metal and skillfully weave them into a structure that only a great architect could dream up. It is a spectacular, mesmerizing performance – and worthy of a curtain call.
Postscript: The dining room windows are not the only windows with good views. The sacristy, the porches of Annunciata, and other spots offer great views of the construction sites… For the latest construction images, please visit our Community News web page. Sr. Therese posts new images weekly. For info on how to help our Capital Campaign, this page will tell you how.