The house I grew up in was mostly the creation of my father. He purchase a two bedroom, one bath home, what would be considered a cottage in todays' market. Over the years he added an upstairs, a laundry room, a basement and two more bathrooms. Although the home was not built entirely by him it felt that way. Over the years I have made modifications to homes I have had but have never built from scratch. It is something I have dreamed about doing over the years. I am quite sure it will remain a dream. The time for such an undertaking is past for me. It is still a nice thing to think about.
I wonder what it was like to chop down the trees and build your home. Surely it had to be one of the most satisfying feelings. To have built and provided shelter for your family. A basic necessity of man, it surely had to fulfill that base desire to provide. Now it seems just having one built for you satisfies that same need for most of us. Many of us do not possess the skills to accomplish the task anymore. I do wonder if it would be different if we could still just homestead a piece of land. Without government intervention and restrictions would we still do it ? Or I guess the question really is would you be satisfied with what you could build ?
I believe I would be more than satisfied with the structure I am capable of building. Not to sound like I am bragging, but I do have skills. I learned a lot of those skills from my father over the years. Other skills I learned in school. I was an industrial arts major,after all. I believe living in a home you built with your own two hands, you could not help but be satisfied. It would be like the ultimate " craft " project. A lot of us do crafts now to grab a piece of that feeling. I think the desire to do a craft comes from that same place in our makeup, that place that drives us to provide for ourselves and for those we love. It is an inherent thing.
I'm not saying I want to live in a log cabin in the traditional sense. I do want indoor plumbing and electricity. To stay in a cabin without those amenities would be amusing and fun for a short time, as a novelty. but not forever. I am spoiled in that regard. I do not need as much as some others might but I'm no pioneer. A lot of those pioneers did not survive. It wasn't always the fault of others, sometimes Mother Nature wins ! Well, she always wins if you are not prepared. I am just dreaming about building my own home. And when I say that I mean I built it, not a contractor. My design and my execution of that design. In that way I could say, I own this place ! It is mine.
I think also that to build your own home is to build for a lifetime. It is something you only do once. You may expand upon the original structure over the years, but not start from scratch again. Succeeding generations may receive the benefit of your work. Can there be a better legacy than that ? There are few feelings that compare to feeling of being home. To live in the home of your ancestors is a wonderful thing. To know that your ancestors built that home with their own hands can only add to that value. Oh, I know that no home will last forever. If it lasts three or four generations that is remarkable. Oh, I know that a house is just a house and that it is love that makes it home. I just consider the amount of love that goes in to building that home. When you do it yourself it does take a bit more.
I guess you could say it is just a romantic notion, this building a home. I can understand that position. I do have a tendency to think that way. The things of the past always seem a little better than what they actually were. But nostalgia is a very strong lure for me. I do feel that need to leave something substantial behind. To leave some tangible evidence of my existence. Something that says, I was here and this is what I did. I think it is a universal desire. Despite all our advances I do think that remains unchanged. It is a worthy goal and something to give thought to. What are you leaving in the way of tangible evidence ? If it is tangible, it is more than a memory. And isn't that what we would all like to be ?
I wonder what it was like to chop down the trees and build your home. Surely it had to be one of the most satisfying feelings. To have built and provided shelter for your family. A basic necessity of man, it surely had to fulfill that base desire to provide. Now it seems just having one built for you satisfies that same need for most of us. Many of us do not possess the skills to accomplish the task anymore. I do wonder if it would be different if we could still just homestead a piece of land. Without government intervention and restrictions would we still do it ? Or I guess the question really is would you be satisfied with what you could build ?
I believe I would be more than satisfied with the structure I am capable of building. Not to sound like I am bragging, but I do have skills. I learned a lot of those skills from my father over the years. Other skills I learned in school. I was an industrial arts major,after all. I believe living in a home you built with your own two hands, you could not help but be satisfied. It would be like the ultimate " craft " project. A lot of us do crafts now to grab a piece of that feeling. I think the desire to do a craft comes from that same place in our makeup, that place that drives us to provide for ourselves and for those we love. It is an inherent thing.
I'm not saying I want to live in a log cabin in the traditional sense. I do want indoor plumbing and electricity. To stay in a cabin without those amenities would be amusing and fun for a short time, as a novelty. but not forever. I am spoiled in that regard. I do not need as much as some others might but I'm no pioneer. A lot of those pioneers did not survive. It wasn't always the fault of others, sometimes Mother Nature wins ! Well, she always wins if you are not prepared. I am just dreaming about building my own home. And when I say that I mean I built it, not a contractor. My design and my execution of that design. In that way I could say, I own this place ! It is mine.
I think also that to build your own home is to build for a lifetime. It is something you only do once. You may expand upon the original structure over the years, but not start from scratch again. Succeeding generations may receive the benefit of your work. Can there be a better legacy than that ? There are few feelings that compare to feeling of being home. To live in the home of your ancestors is a wonderful thing. To know that your ancestors built that home with their own hands can only add to that value. Oh, I know that no home will last forever. If it lasts three or four generations that is remarkable. Oh, I know that a house is just a house and that it is love that makes it home. I just consider the amount of love that goes in to building that home. When you do it yourself it does take a bit more.
I guess you could say it is just a romantic notion, this building a home. I can understand that position. I do have a tendency to think that way. The things of the past always seem a little better than what they actually were. But nostalgia is a very strong lure for me. I do feel that need to leave something substantial behind. To leave some tangible evidence of my existence. Something that says, I was here and this is what I did. I think it is a universal desire. Despite all our advances I do think that remains unchanged. It is a worthy goal and something to give thought to. What are you leaving in the way of tangible evidence ? If it is tangible, it is more than a memory. And isn't that what we would all like to be ?
No comments:
Post a Comment