The Load Out

I ran a few errands first thing in the morning. Knowing it was supposed to be the hottest day of the year, I wanted to get a jumpstart on the moving process. So I wrapped a packing blanket around the top and cinched it in place with a ratchet strap. I removed the seats in the old minivan and put a scrap piece of particle board (that the plywood for the top came protected with months ago) down to protect the altar top from the fastening mechanisms that hold the seats in place. I pushed my mobile work bench, with the altar top on top, up to the rear of the van and was able to slide it down into the back with the ratchet strap still holding the packing blanket in place. It was easy enough to get that accomplished with just myself but it will require two of us to reverse the process.

With the van loaded, I prepped the tools and other things we will need for the moving and assembly process and put them into the van so they were ready to go. I laid out a selection of ratchet straps and more packing blankets so they are ready to be grabbed. I wheeled the base, still on the dollies, out into the middle ready to be lifted.

Then I waited for mid afternoon, the hottest part of the day, when the Good Samaritan was free and could back his trailer up to the garage for the next part, putting the altar base onto the trailer. He brought some moving straps that consisted of a harness that goes around your shoulders and a big wide strap that connected his harness to mine. In essence, the big wide strap went underneath the altar and we connected to it on either side and by just standing, it came off the ground between us and left our hand free to simply steady it from tipping to one side or the other. It worked well though was meant for shorter people. Due to my height, the connecting part was nearly below my chest so that it put a pretty hefty force on my lower back. But I toughed it out and we got it loaded onto the trailer.

After strapping it down, we drove to the church about 25 miles away and reversed the process. We had a much longer carrying portion this time and I had to beg for mercy at one point to sit the base down and rest my lower back a minutes before carrying on but eventually we got it near where we wanted it. After some discussion and coming prepared for two different methods, we decided to assemble the altar upside down, just as I had done to mark the holes on the underneath side of the altar top. That went smoothly and in just a few minutes, we had it back right side up and more or less centered exactly where it needed to go. I was pleased to see underneath the yellowish lighting, the color match was just about spot on with the rest of the furniture. I gave it a quick polish, we both took our beauty shots of it and there was nothing to do but drive back home.

According to the Good Samaritan, somebody will be by later in the week to "dress" the altar for it's time to shine on Sunday. He will also bring a shim since the floor where it needed to go wasn't quite level and it rocked just slightly, something I hadn't thought or prepared for. In a way, it is sort of sad to see it go though I'm sure I'll still visit from time to time when a Sunday evening mass in our family is needed. It went to a great home and I hope it serves their purposes well for the coming decades. Lastly, it was nice to come home to a garage that I could park inside normally again... at least until the next project starts.

Note: Old altar is back against the wall beneath the cross to give you a sense of the size difference.