Friday, May 30, 2014

Primitive form

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When I was very young, my mother worked outside the home for a short time. When she was working and I was sick and home from school I would "ride along" with my dad. He owns his own company which pours foundations for homes. I would  ride in the front seat of his truck while he went from job site to job site checking to make sure everything was going smoothly with his slabs. I wondered how he understood anything on his C.B. radio, especially because almost all of it was in Spanish. But he always understood. He always chewed gum. And his truck was always freezing. I also learned some things. Just by watching. And I thought it was fun.

Being here and watching others build, and now building ourselves, it's been... interesting. Foundations, thankfully, are pretty much the same anywhere that people know what they're doing and have the materials. They use all the latest techniques here and I'm sure my dad would give his stamp of approval. Building the house on the other hand, often makes me pause. It's just so different from what I know.  A few posts back someone commented that the first time she saw a house being built in Poland that it looked so "primitive". I laughed at first because I know exactly what she means. It looks a lot like... building blocks. How children build with building blocks. How you and I, when we were little, would stack the blocks so they were sturdy and not fall over. This is, in a way, sort of primitive.

We will be building our house out of these same materials.  I will admit that I was a bit prejudiced against them in the beginning. I turned my nose up at the idea. So primitive! So basic! So...simple. And yet... it works. It's another one of those times when I find myself stating, "it's not better, or worse, it's just...different."

* the pictures are from the house being built right outside our bedroom window in the house we live in now

7 comments:

  1. When we bought our first home in NY, a lovely cedar-sided ranch, I was so proud of it I mailed (OK, I am dating myself) photos to all my friends and relatives back in Poland. I was hurt when I got no reply until my tell-it-like-it-is Polish cousin explained: "well...it's a nice cabin, but unless it is built out of bricks, it's not a house"!

    My current home in FL is made out of concrete block - does that count? ;-)

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    1. I can understand that... "if it doesn't last for several hundred years, it's not a house!" ;)

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  2. It's great you already have walls! :) So exciting! :)

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    1. Those pictures are the house next door to ours that we live in now. So far we just have a big hole on our property. You need to see it sometime!

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    2. Oh, ok. I thought that it's yours. :)
      I'm looking forward to see you and your big hole in your ground. I'm just waiting for your free time. I don't want to intrude while you have a small baby and it's your first weeks here. :) Just let me know when you will be ready. :)

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  3. This reminds me of when my husband's Polish uncle was visiting us in Texas...he saw the completely wood-frame houses being built, shook his head, laughed and said, "Paper houses!"

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    1. It kind of does seem like that, doesn't it? I call those houses in America "The Jungle houses", after the book.

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