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“I do one thing at a time, do it very well … and then I move on.”

— Maj. Charles Emerson Winchester III (“M*A*S*H”)

There is much to admire about the methodical manner to accomplishing a task at hand.

What lies before you might not come close to being as critical or under as much duress as “meatball surgery” in a war zone but, as spelled out by Winchester during his first shift at the 4077th, a pragmatic approach can get you from A to Z without skipping crucial steps along the way.

Case in point: The restoration of the brick facade of the International Order of Odd Fellows Lodge #129 in Gold Hill.

Rehabilitating the exterior of the 125-year-old building is the task entrusted to brickmason Warren Rundle, who’s been at his craft for 40 years and knows that the job will take time, and patience.

“First, I have to go through and sand it all down and get all the old concrete off that’s been put on through the years. You just go slow and use different grit sanders. It’s all you can do,” Rundle said.

“If you’re not careful, the brick will sand off faster than the concrete. … It’s slow, dusty work.”

The patchwork concrete Rundle has to remove is the result, according to Lodge Secretary Stacy Thomason, of years of quick-fix attempts by I.O.O.F. members whose hearts were in the right place, even if their talents were not.

“Every Odd Fellow who didn’t know what the heck they were doing tried to fix this poor building,” Thomason says.

“They just kept Mickey-Mousing it. … You can see all the gooey crap and cement they used that didn’t belong there.”

Enter Rundle, who took up masonry after a stint in the Army. The craftsman estimates that he’ll be at the restoration for up to three weeks. In the meantime, the Lodge is fundraising to meet the price tag of about $5,000.

For Rundle, though, the job isn’t just about the money. He says it’s also about feeling a connection to the original bricklayers, imagining their methods and tools.

“It’s pretty cool,” he says, “to get to work on a really old building like this.”

Sometimes it seems, we move at such a pace through life that we would pass someone doing their job and continue on without giving it a passing thought.

That’s our loss, really. For appreciating the handiwork and talents of others allows us to step back and understand what it takes for a sense of community to last.

No, repairing the facade of a lodge hall isn’t performing life-saving surgery. It’s not usually front-page news, the trending topic across social media, or the hot-take issue for an Opinion page.

But every now and then, such acts serve as a reminder that time and patience provide their own rewards.

For the next couple of weeks, Warren Rundle will do one thing at a time, do it very well, and then move on. And if all goes well, a brickmason 125 years from now will feel a connection to history.