Aug 11 2010
Not Just a Home For the Car
Most homes will have an out building of some kind. Whether it’s a shed or a garage, it is an important place, that does not serve as JUST a storage room for the car or the mower or the family bikes. This is the man’s domain and you will know this if you have ever wandered into one and put something back in the wrong place.
So why is it that men obsess about their out buildings? There are more to these than meet the eye. They appear to be buildings of purpose, of practical purpose. Things are stored here, and things are constructed inside, cars are repaired here and things appear that one never knew one had. That is it – anybody can enter and use a tool or make something, or repair something or take out a bicycle for someone to use. Or can they?
My dad’s shed has net curtains up at the window and it is his “office”. A friend of mine has his guitar, a chair, some magazines and his motorbike in his garage – all that he needs and the things that he uses to unwind. In mine, I have a stereo system and a beer fridge! I do not spend lots of time in my garage, as do my friend and my dad, but if I need time to think and be alone then that is where I go. An outbuilding is a place for reflection, where you can be alone and contemplate what you need to do – no kids running in and out making noise, nobody asking what you are doing sitting with your head in your hands, just total peace and tranquility. Ahhhhhhh!
There is a system in my garage – tools and hardware on one side, decorating things and creative bits on the other side. There are bicycles for the whole family in there, the barbecue (wheeled out when it is time to cook – and another piece of man-dom) and some bits that “may come in useful some day”! My wife recently decided that she would build a guinea pig run. She prepared the wood and steel mesh she would use, and commenced. I won’t knock her, she is certainly braver than I, I would not even try! A few days later, however, I was asked to place some food into our chest freezer. I opened the door to the garage and the place was a mess – I could not get to the appliance in question as there was wood and mesh piled up in front of it and I could not get in to move any of it, because the children’s bicycles were all over the floor! What I needed to do was remove the bicycles from the garage, put the wood back in its place (everything in my garage has its place), tidy my tools, and then put the bicycles back in their right place. Inside I was seething.
My inner sanctum, if you like, had been left in a state. You mess with a man’s garage or shed and you mess with his mind – suddenly everything is in disorder. My garage is now restored to its proper glory (as is my mind), and if I wished I could go and sit in there and reflect on things. Just go and mess, occupy myself with sorting or making or just doing. I could sit and listen to music, read a book, sit with my eyes closed and think – nobody knows what a guy gets up to, it is his place and once the door is closed that haven should not be disturbed.
I know that this concept can be difficult to understand for some people. A woman may take herself off to the bedroom and lie and contemplate, she may go and soak in a hot bath, or she may go shopping for retail therapy. A guy has his garage or shed. I think women are better at blocking noise out than men – my wife can sit and read a book in a room full of screaming children, where as I need peace and quiet. She can sit and watch TV zoned out to everything around her, I cannot. We all need somewhere to go, away from everything to think – a man has his garage or shed. If you do go into his domain, please leave it as you found it, put things back where you found them or you may find yourself with a very disgruntled man!
With best wishes for you, knowing this little tidbit of information
Dale Preece-Kelly
More from this author at http://www.selfhope.co.uk