Last week I was honoured to be featured in the St. Albert Gazette in Our People. Reporter Viola Pruss wrote a very complimentary article about me and who I am.
Last week I was honoured to be featured in the St. Albert Gazette in Our People. Reporter Viola Pruss wrote a very complimentary article about me and who I am. One of the things we talked about was my shed and I would like to take this time to “shed” some light on my shed.
I love to write and have been doing it since junior high school when I started writing those painfully emotional anxiety poems that can only come out of a 13-year-old girl. I took my bachelor of fine arts in creative writing at UBC and would be up well into the wee hours of the morning typing away on my electric typewriter.
But then came motherhood and although the emotions and anxiety during the early years felt as strong as those of my 13-year-old self, I couldn’t find the time, the energy or the creativity to get anything down on paper. Slowly, it’s coming back and as my children begin needing me less and less I can see a light in the distance.
I’ve met many writers who have told me that I need a place to write, a dedicated place to write. A number of years ago, while my son was in Grade 5, he wrote a poem that had the line “you can’t write in a kitchen full of dirty dishes.” He nailed it. That phrase has resonated with me ever since. So many times I have tried to find a little corner to sit down and write and I can see around me overdue library books, dusty shelves, permission forms and dirty dishes. It’s hard not to procrastinate with all these temptations to carry me away from digging in and writing again.
He also wrote a poem that same year that had the line “you can’t grow zucchinis in winter.” Again, my 10-year-old had nailed it. I couldn’t nurture my writing at that time in my life. I didn’t have the right conditions to grow. I had to be patient; the time would come once again. Of course, when I share with him (he’s 16 now) the impact of these poems he either has no idea what I’m talking about or thinks I have over interpreted what he was saying. “It’s just a fact, Mom. Zucchinis do not grow in winter.”
I knew I needed my own space, but where? We lived in a modest four bedroom bungalow. It is big enough for our family of five, complete with a fantastic man cave/playroom. I sought out corners, closets; I even considered creating a space in the little cupboard under the stairs in the basement – just like Harry Potter! But nothing was a fit.
A few years ago, my neighbours were moving and selling their house. I found out that her husband had built her a shed in the backyard, insulated it and lined it with bookshelves for all her books and put in a comfy chair. It was her space to do her favourite thing: read.
Hazaah! I thought. I will build myself a shed. Determined to do this all myself two summers ago, I met with failure as snow came too early and I couldn’t finish it.
But sometimes these things happen for a reason. I started up again this past summer. I was talking to a friend of mine (we have been friends since we were four, so she is all too familiar with my writing!), she is a carpenter by trade and I was telling her about my shed. She asked me all sorts of questions which led to her ultimately telling me to start all over.
Truth be told, I cut corners, used old materials from a previous shed I tore down and didn’t know what the hell I was doing. I knew she was right. She said that if I want this to be a good, sturdy shed, I needed a strong foundation. And so I did.
I tore everything down. I bought new materials and a guide on shed building from Lee Valley Tools. It took me weeks as I insisted on doing this by myself, unless, of course it was too dangerous – like trying to put on the roof by myself. I wanted to do this by myself, for myself and I loved it.
Sadly, although winter looked kindly upon me and gave me quite a few extra weeks, it was not enough and the cold weather made me shut down the construction site. My shed stands complete with four walls (insulated and drywalled), a roof, two windows, and a door.
I was in the midst of mudding and taping when it got too cold to finish. So now I look out my bedroom window at my little shed waiting for me. It will be my space, my little place to escape to create. Like my family, my community and so many other wonderful things in my life, it will be strong because it has a good foundation.
