THE BIRD HOUSE BLOG

Above, is a picture of the humble birdhouse that I built this weekend. I excitedly purchased a sliding compound miter saw at Home Depot on Friday and quickly started going to town on some cedar. In February, I made it a goal to start building birdhouses because they seemed to be a great introduction to carpentry. And the reason that I wanted to start building things, was so that I can be more like my dad, Thomas J. Moakler. He is an independent architect by trade, but he also happens to be an amazing carpenter. He designed and built the beautiful house that our family has lived has in for the last 15 years.  Whether it was a deck, a house, a shed, a fence, or a hockey goal for my friends and I—my dad was always building things while I was growing up. When I was a kid, I thought that every grown man just knew how to do those things. But I was wrong, he was different than most.

 In addition to always building things, he was always being a great father to my sister and I, far more than I was capable of realizing. I thought every grown man just knew how to that too. Unfortunately, a little growing up and knowing other’s experiences has showed me otherwise. It has taken just shy of a quarter of a century for me to begin sincerely appreciating how hard it is to be selfless, strong, empowering, bold, loving, benevolent, brave, to faithfully lead a wife and children for 27 years, and to hang drywall on a ceiling by yourself.   Every year it is more apparent to me how fortunate I am to be my dad’s son and to call him one of my closest friends.

Thanks Dad. Please consider this blog your father’s day card (whoops!).  I love you and I think you’re the man. Thanks for teaching me about power tools, grilling with charcoal, and all the other REAL man stuff that doesn’t involve flames, blades, or motors. You and mom have blessed me beyond words. I hope that smile a lot today and know that you’ve done a hell of a job. 

Steven Thomas Moakler

Jun 20 2010