Want to have some fun? Finish your basement! That's what we've been doing these past few months and, oh, it's been fun. Step one was to empty the space: cabinets, saws, joiners, planers, drill presses, band saws, lathes -- up and out the window and into the garage. Of course, that meant relocating the stuff in the garage -- mostly boats -- to temporary storage along the fence in the backyard.

Step two was to bring in the contractor; the easy part. Our next door neighbor was the best -- and only -- bid on the project and he's done a great job. In one month's time he has transformed a big open space with concrete floors and mice-chewed insulated walls into three rooms, a hallway, and a bath. Walls, doors, windows, lights, those little gadgets that keep the doorknob from punching holes in the walls -- it's all done and it's good.

We wait now for the electricians to connect the lights and the carpet guys to cover the floors. Next week we'll get the keys to a whole new bunch of rooms to enjoy, to heat, and to cool. It's a wonderful thing.

One room will be my wood shop; smaller than the old one but finished, with actual walls, actual lights, and actual outlets every four feet all the way around the room. Room two is my "office", where I'll wrestle with my many responsibilities, like writing this blog and flying imaginary airplanes and futilely attempting to move the entire house with my rowing machine.

The other room will be the Bijou, a theater just for us. We suspect that in the years to come our abilities to climb every mountain and ford every stream will, to some extent, lessen. We decided to prepare in advance for a time when time takes its toll. We're building a spot where virtual reality replaces actual reality, where we can ride the Amazon to the ocean and walk the Andes from end to end while comfortably reclining and sipping a scotch. We've even arranged to have biting insects released to make the experience all the more rewarding. The first movie to debut on the big screen will be African Queen, since MA and I actually met, many years ago, in the Congo on a river. We're going back to our roots, and we'll turn the sound up loud!