I came to a stop. I was tucked back in a grove of trees many miles off the main road, and I had found it. The breeze slipped through the trees and the rays of sunlight bobbed through the branches. I decided that here was my chance to finally do it. I unloaded all my tools and got to work.
My goal was simple: I wanted to build a house from scratch; tirelessly working through every step of the process until I had something that was, well, mine. I took out my ax and started chopping away at a tall, healthy looking tree. Tick Tick Tick echoed through the woods and reverberated around the air. As sweat began to roll down the back of my head, I stopped to stand up and stretch out my back. Doubt began to creep into my mind, telling myself that I had no chance of finishing this project. The summer was only going to get hotter and hotter, and the demands of this labor were going to be crushing me quite soon. I picked up my ax and ignored the rain clouds coming. It was late May.
A car came rumbling down the old logging road, complete with a squeaky suspension system and an American flag flying out the back window. I stepped through my empty doorway, surrounded by horizontally stacked logs and a fresh foundation below my feet. I figured that this new driver was here for a weekend of July 4th camping, so I went out to meet them. When he came out, I looked into his vehicle and noticed a lot of the same things that I currently was using. It dawned on me that I wasn't the only person here to build a house. Under the sweltering summer heat, the newcomer brought out an ax and walked over to a nearby tree. He looked at me and smiled- he was here to build a house too. I smiled back.
I was awakened by the sound of lightning and wind- an August thunderstorm. I could feel my structure being harassed by increasing wind gusts and pelted by rain. I immediately hopped out of my bed and looked over at my neighbor. He didn't yet have a roof over his head and was surviving in his little tent. He had a long way to go, but don't we all? I went to each of my corners and joints and checked to see if any water had leaked into the house. All was clean, but I couldn't vouch for my neighbor.
A few days later, I started to notice that he was building fast- too fast. He was putting up boards in lines that weren't perfect even. His corners and joints didn't match together perfectly. His equipment and supplies were old and not adequate. I walked over to ask him why he was building so fast. He responded that he knew winter was coming soon and he had to be ready, and so he wanted to get done with as much as possible in a short amount of time. I tried my hardest to convince him that building a house takes time, effort, and some good luck, and that he would need to slow down in order to be ok long-term. I listened to the wind- a soft, north wind with a hint of fall in it. He was right to say that cold was coming soon, but a house can't be built on shoddy foundation.
The first snowflake gently fell on the ground, followed by another, and and another. I had recently finished enclosing the outside of my house, and though the outside still needed plenty of work, and the inside had no improvements at all, I might be able to stay warm during the winter. I looked out my small, east-facing window and checked up on my neighbor. He was running over to my house.
"Hey do you have any extra wood that I could borrow? I need to finish closing up some holes"
I lent him some wood and watched him frantically run around his house the rest of the day, stuffing papers and insulation into as many small openings as he could find. Winters get cold up here, ya know.
The thermometer read -10F. The snow was thick outside as I fetched some more wood to put on my fire. The smoke lingered gently above the smoke stack on top of my house. Jack Frost had drawn all over the windows, and the last of the stars glistened in the sky as the morning sun decided to take a late peak over the horizon. I sat down on my chair and grabbed a book off the shelf. I was nearing the end of completing my house. The roof needed a little work after the snowpack eroded in the spring, and the inside needing some tidying up, but overall I took pride in making sure the house was solidly built. My neighbor left a few days ago. He couldn't take the cold anymore, and his poorly-built house couldn't support him. Since then we've had another big round of snow and the weight of it all caused his flat roof to collapse. Now it's a giant pile of wood and broken dreams.
I don't feel bad for him. Everybody wants the nice house to show others and enjoy spending time in. Everybody wants their house built quickly and for the best results. Everybody wants to maximize output and minimize input. He left because he hadn't taken the time to make sure that his house was prepared for the worst. Sure, I have to spend a lot of time cutting wood. Sure, every now and again there's something with the house that needs a quick fix. But what's important is that it's fixable. A house that isn't built properly will fail. and the person who built it will have to start over at square one. For the rest of the winter now, I'm by myself. I assume that when the weather improves, someone will come looking for a place to make their home. Some will make a sturdy building, some will not. For now, I'm simply glad that I took the time to make sure the house was built beautifully and in a way that I can enjoy it.
The sun is out now. A breeze from the west blew in overnight and now the snow is dipping from the trees, occasionally plopping right on my forehead. The high clouds wisp past without making a sound. The animals of the woods have emerged from their winter slumber and are playfully running around, not too far removed from my plans. I have my running shorts on and I'm out the door. I'm heading down the road and finding new trails to explore. The rush I get from it is exhilarating, and I'm thankful for everything I have. I also know that it all happened because of the task of building a house and doing it right. It's always better to do it right the first time, no matter how difficult or boring it may seem at the time. Good luck finding the house though.
No comments:
Post a Comment