Builders We Must Learn To Be

Reader Contribution by Bethann Weick
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Neither Ryan nor I are mathematicians.Neither are we carpenters.We are a forester and a farmer, an EMT and a writer, teachers, stewards, hikers.Building & construction are not our preferred activities.

The work of cutting and joining dimensional lumber to build the hat for our home-to-be is a task that has long loomed ahead of us – daunting given our lack of experience.Just to keep things interesting, I’ll offer the reminder that we live a third of a mile from a paved road and the nearest electric line.Power equipment is not an option.Hammer, nails, measuring tape, square, level, and handsaw are our available implements.

With these tools we built sills, creating a level top to our walls of stacked logs: logs that offered beauty, but certainly not easy geometry.The sills seemed easy, however, compared to the task of building trusses.We did enjoy a frontcountry excursion for the purpose of laying out lumber in the sloped driveway of a friend and making use of the rapidity of her circular saw.In this manner the first set of rafters were trialed late in the afternoon under gray skies and an impending dinner hour.Hunger and tiredness yielded poor results. Somehow the peak was noticeably off center! 

All reasonable thought pointed to stopping before we did more damage.Hot food and deep sleep had to yield a more encouraging outcome. 

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