Notes From A Barn Raising in Middletown

by T.H. Clapping

Sabbath breaking. It happened on a Sunday. "Sabbath" is Hebrew for day of rest. The word has nothing to do with the number seven, even though Genesis says that on the seventh day God rested after six days of making things he pronounced "very good." For more on religion, see "topping out" below.

Outside agitators. If you want to do an old-fashioned New England barn raising, you hire a company to lead it. The professionals direct the work of all the friends you can entice to the site on the big day.

Goal-setting. The idea was to get the frame lifted, the roof beams in place, and the second-story floor in place before the lunch break. After lunch, the roof.

Post and beam. The structure was "post and beam," whatever that means (at a guess, it probably involves posts and beams). There was lots of lingo. Can't remember whether the words "joist" or "lally" were used. Wood had important notches and slots with special names.

Tools. Drills are wonderfully motorized these days. Didn't notice whether nail guns were in use, but why wouldn't they be? Could be useful in fending off a vindictive dryad (see below).

Mallets. There were big wooden mallets used to drive wooden pegs into holes in beams. The mallets looked as if they could bring the House of Commons to order with alacrity.

Leadership. The man in charge was Brendan. He was tall and not afraid of heights. He was used to command: a good, clear voice and good, clear language.

Example: "Lift with your knees, not your back.[Demonstrated with body language]) Lift when I say 'Lift.' I'll say, 'One, two, three, lift!' Don't lift on 'three,' lift on 'lift.'"

Distaff. One woman, famous for co-authoring a book on retrofitting existing houses to be elder-friendly, did heavy labor along with the men. Her co-author father was a spectator.

Others. There were plenty of women there, mostly spouses, and lots of children. Three dogs, one resident, two visiting.

Food. The food tables had the women to thank for loading them with lunch. No booze (safety), but some exotica: vanilla and orange flavored seltzer (that's one flavor, not two).

Brendan's mom. The crew boss's mother was there watching her son work. Nice.

Sun. Fittingly for a Sunday, it was sunny. The laborers had no shade. It was two days in one: in the sun, brutally hot. In the shade, cool and breezy. Pity the workers.

Stupid question. Able asked Baker, "Why are they putting down the second story floor before they put the roof panels on the roof beams?"

Baker's answer: "Because it's very hard to nail down flooring where the roof meets the barn wall." Able blushed at his lack of forethought.

The big picture. The new barn had only three walls because it abutted an existing sturdy old barn. The new barn was going where a rickety extension of the sturdy old barn had been.

Fun with words. The new barn addition was raised days after the old barn addition was razed.

Recycling. The old barn addition was so decayed that not much was salvageable. Everything went to the dump except a few timbers moved into the sturdy old barn to good effect, a number of roof panels re-used on the new addition, and an chest of gold coins accidentally uncovered during the foundation work. (Guess which part is a lie.)

Old custom 1. "Topping out" is placing a tree or leafy branch on the topmost wood, often with flags and streamers tied to it. No flags or streamers this time, just a big white pine branch.

Old custom 2. After "topping out," a toast is usually drunk and sometimes workers are treated to a meal. This event batted .500 in that department.

Old custom 3. The practice of topping out a new building can be traced to the ancient Scandinavian religious rite of placing a tree atop a new building to appease the tree-dwelling spirits displaced in its construction.

Dryads 1. "Dryad" is a Greek word for a tree-dwelling spirit. The "dr" in dryad and the "tr" in tree are related.

Dryads 2. Unless placated, displaced dryads can be really nasty. Think dybbuks, who weren't ancient Scandinavians, but could still be nasty and possessive.

Dogs. The three dogs on site all got along with each other. One was a four-month-old puppy who found it endlessly diverting to sniff lawn grass. When you're new, everything is new.

Spoilsports, complainers, malcontents. None to be found; it was a great day.