Your grandpa's pole barn.

The other day, I stumbled across a website for this pole barn building company. I guess the owner is some kind of industry guru, builder whizz guy. They manufacture their own components and build big huge metal buildings with massive spans and all this other stuff. It's all cool, but the thing that caught my eye was this catch phrase, "Not your grandpa's pole barn!"; which, I guess is their way of saying "new and improved" or what have you. Most people are probably in to that kind of stuff, and honestly, if grandpa had some engineered steel trusses laying around you can bet your britches he would have been using them. But, I don't care. I like the way grandpa did it. I like the faults, the patches, the improvised mends. I like imperfection.

Somewhere in the past century and a half or so, we made a switch. From the beginning of time, people have used their hands and their brains to make stuff. Antique furniture, old houses, old all kinds of stuff , we look at these things and wonder, "how'd they do that without machines?". The march of human progression was for millennia, marked by milestones in the battle of man vs. nature, the continual push toward perfection. From crude to refined, from stone to steel. In a world where literally ever single thing you could ever behold, either grew from the ground or was dug out of it, a perfectly straight, flat surface was really something special. Anything fine, detailed or precise conveyed it's own value in human currency. Nothing got that way without a lot of blood, sweat and skill, no two ways about it.

Now, it's all "perfect". We take it for granted. We don't marvel at the fine craftsmanship of our latest gizmos. Sure, we take note of how well they are built or how well they work, but we aren't looking at the new iPad saying, "dang, someone really knew what they were doing on this one". It's just stuff, mass produced, factory assembled, boring, bland stuff. That's why, when I can, I like to get a little shot of real in my life. After all these centuries, we've finally erased the maker's mark from our lives. Nothing bears the sign of human imperfection anymore, we made it. Are we better for it? Probably yes, for the most part; but I still crave that in-your-face, conspicuously handmade, two-steps-away-from-being-untouched feeling.

So, as I work on this barn, I'm going to think on my feet, change stuff along the way and figure it out as I go; because, that's who I am, and yeah, this is your grandpa's pole barn.


Pole Barn 1: Stout, Beefy Poles from Brinn Willis on Vimeo.


-F.W.

ps, on that last note, don't try this at home... building stuff carries it's own inherent risks, especially something of this size. If you're learning something, great; but don't mistake my foolhardy confidence for years of expertise.