The Yield: A wise woman builds her house, a foolish one tears it down

February 29, 2008 03:03 am

— It was a small house; cozy, warm and hospitable.
Though Stan had wanted to live on a farm, at our age it made more sense to live in town. The winters of ’05 and ’06 had several snowstorms, some with enough significance to require snow removal with the tractor. The acres of grass to mow in the summer months were another consideration.
In June we put our farm home on the market with a local real estate company. Several parties looked at the property, but the isolation with no really close neighbors and gravel roads were deterrents.
In the first part of November a young farmer from the Amboy area agreed to purchase the property. He was very interested in the outbuildings as well as the house, as he farms in the area and could use the space to store his equipment.
Closing on the property would be in January 2008. That gave us time to bring home those useful items which we still had stored at the farm. Until that date, we didn’t know if we might live at the farm or in town.
In the meantime we cleaned the basement in the place in town. It was dirty, grungy work that basements often require. Our trips between Blue Earth and the farm were frequent. On the trips back to the farm we brought things to dispose of, which we could burn.
It was during this time I learned about not burning in town, and the need for disposing of things in a landfill.
We had decided to tear out two walls in the house in town two years ago, if we moved to town. Our office needed to be moved across the hall. Understand that Stan and I are both packrats. Talk about 10 pounds of junk in a five-pound bag.
Did we plan well? The weather was cold and windy, not really comfortable weather for moving. Larger items were also a challenge because of their weight and bulk. Storage was a real challenge at the house in Blue Earth. The merger of two packrats is not a pretty sight.
The next step, which was an effort to expand our new living room, also posed problems. We had to vacate two of the small rooms already piled with possessions (junk) to allow for the new renovation, which included the removal of two walls and installation of a new floor. (We also added insulation to the ceiling of the house, but that is another story.)
Have you ever ordered a dumpster for the removal of construction debris? The telephone calls required seemed to take longer than they should have. It is just a dumpster! Two women working on the order made for much confusion. Exasperated, she asked me, “How many pick-up loads will you have?” I replied, “Two walls of plaster and studs.” She said, “Plaster is really heavy. You better get the big dumpster.”
“Could you come in the morning so that we can throw the debris directly into the dumpster?” I asked. “No problem,” she said. Can you imagine our surprise when this huge dumpster arrived in the street outside? The carpenter started to laugh. “You could put your whole house in there,” he said.
By the time the second, smaller dumpster arrived, we had piled a lot of refuse outside on the lawn. It was icy as I made the first trip to the dumpster. On the way back, to add injury to injury, I fell on the ice. I was so glad to be uninjured, just a little shaken and bruised.
More pain, Stan got his next. Our wall removal required a large support beam to be installed. Our carpenter lifted one end of it, and Stan the other, while I positioned two boards to hold it in position. I don’t know who ached more at the end of the day, Stan or me. Every bone in our 60-plus-year-old bodies ached.
The results of all our efforts are beautiful. The workmanship was first class, and we are so pleased with the results.
A wise woman builds her house, while a foolish woman tears her’s down by her own efforts. Proverbs 14:1 TLB
Thinking about the yield:
• How does a wise woman build her house? What materials must she use?
• How does a foolish woman tear down her house? How might she do that?

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