You already know this one’s right up my alley. It thinks through the hands with tactile diction: weight, swing, grit, ping” (can’t even list the words without being musical either)
You make labor a form of knowledge by declining the obvious metaphor until “the work” (your poem & craft described) earn it.
Labour is knowledge. We call it manual labour as if it was all muscle and sinew that made it happen. Building a house starts with planning. 2D blueprints visualizing 3D space.
Even the basic skill of swinging a hammer effectively is understanding physics.
Working as a carpenter taught me the magic of planning. You can build things without a plan and the end result can be awesome. But building something large without a plan is chaos. Steps missed. Parts missing. Waste materials because nobody looked ahead at how to cut to reuse the remainder. Or because walls were closed before plumbing and electrical were completed. Logistics and thinking.
But it was dozens of rough hands that pulled it all together. We used to joke a job wasn’t done until you bled on the work. A rough edge or a sharp tool inevitably breaking skin.
We did full builds from blueprint drafting to digging to roofing. We’d bring in other trades especially for electrical and often for drywall. None of our builds were fancy. I guess we were the general contractors and the primary carpenters for foundation, framing, finishing (painting, trim, flooring, tiling, etc) and cabinetry. My brother went on to focus on finishing carpentry, and cabinetry. He’s got a massive workshop with a dust free finishing room.
Oh my. Reminiscing now. I remember walking the top of the building walls. 2 or 3 stories up and guiding the rafters into place. There was a feeling of freedom standing up on that top plate.
You already know this one’s right up my alley. It thinks through the hands with tactile diction: weight, swing, grit, ping” (can’t even list the words without being musical either)
You make labor a form of knowledge by declining the obvious metaphor until “the work” (your poem & craft described) earn it.
Thank you.
Labour is knowledge. We call it manual labour as if it was all muscle and sinew that made it happen. Building a house starts with planning. 2D blueprints visualizing 3D space.
Even the basic skill of swinging a hammer effectively is understanding physics.
"gentle homes are built with rough hands."
What a beautiful phrase.
You're so good with this type of tribute poetry.
Thank you.
Working as a carpenter taught me the magic of planning. You can build things without a plan and the end result can be awesome. But building something large without a plan is chaos. Steps missed. Parts missing. Waste materials because nobody looked ahead at how to cut to reuse the remainder. Or because walls were closed before plumbing and electrical were completed. Logistics and thinking.
But it was dozens of rough hands that pulled it all together. We used to joke a job wasn’t done until you bled on the work. A rough edge or a sharp tool inevitably breaking skin.
Have you built houses? Or more like, carpentry part of the house? 😅
We did full builds from blueprint drafting to digging to roofing. We’d bring in other trades especially for electrical and often for drywall. None of our builds were fancy. I guess we were the general contractors and the primary carpenters for foundation, framing, finishing (painting, trim, flooring, tiling, etc) and cabinetry. My brother went on to focus on finishing carpentry, and cabinetry. He’s got a massive workshop with a dust free finishing room.
Oh my. Reminiscing now. I remember walking the top of the building walls. 2 or 3 stories up and guiding the rafters into place. There was a feeling of freedom standing up on that top plate.