I live in a gated community and this week the streets are being re-paved. Our community is a labyrinth of cul-de-sacs and there is only one way in and out. Our street is partially blocked right now and we have to take a circuitous detour to get to and from the front gate.

The contractor has had to coordinate the closing of alternating streets to allow egress and ingress. There was a resident meeting explaining the schedule and a color coordinated street map and the schedule for paving them is posted on our community’s web site.

One street is finished and it is beautiful. The worn pavement and faded markings have been replaced with a smooth, deep black finish and crisply drawn lane lines and cross walks. Everything is new and pristine, a first class job through and through.

I enjoy watching the work being done almost more than the finished job. I grew up in a newly developed community and as a kid, loved watching the construction workers and their machines. Part of it was knowing that the workers were doing things I couldn’t do. I marveled at how they took truckloads of raw materials and out of chaos created finished buildings. As an outsider, I could only watch and appreciate the magic.

I had some of the same feelings as I watched the workers and machines paving our street. They poured the asphalt, rolled and smoothed it, and painted the white and yellow lines. I have tremendous respect for the professionals who planned and are executing this job. It is as much art as engineering. And yet to them, it’s just another job. It’s what they do every single day and there’s nothing artistic or magical about it.

I couldn’t help thinking that most people don’t know what attorneys do or how we do it, and that while few want to watch us at work, what we do is indeed magical. We are artists, engineers, and builders. With our words and ideas, we change minds, we help people prosper, we fight for freedom. Without us, the wheels of civilization would stop turning.

Never take your skills for granted. Most people don’t know what we do or how we do it, but what we do is magical.