Northwest Activities
While there are many different types of people in the great Northwest, the kind I am now surrounded by are not those with whom I grew up. Throughout my childhood and youth, I was smack-dab in the center of conservative, upright, stalwart folk. These were the kinds of people who concentrated on family values, raised wise, respectful and virtuous children and maintained strict rules about personal and family activities. Occasionally, the men-folk would go off for a weekend hunting trip while the women-folk would run amok at the sewing show (the official opening day of Sewing Season).
There were church-sponsored sporting events (everyone plays regardless of ability or interest), church-sponsored social events (again, everyone plays regardless of ability or interest), church-sponsored sermons and church-hosted potlucks. There were occasional special sleep-overs (girls at this house, boys at that house) and even a church-sponsored dance or two.
To say the least, there wasn’t really a single part of my young life where the church wasn’t the dominant feature. In years past, Saturday evenings and Sunday afternoons would be spent either discussing the most recent church-sponsored event or preparing for the next one. That isn’t the case today. No. Today the activities are far more secular in nature. Now we partake in the time-honored tradition of “playing in the garage”.
I assume that within the church family in which I grew up there were some families for whom “playing in the garage” was a common and wholly acceptable activity; not in my immediate family, though. As my father has explained many times, he is not mechanically inclined. My father claims that a screwdriver has too many moving parts. Building, tearing down and rebuilding engines and things of that sort… well, the closest my father ever got to mucking around with the internal workings of motors was reading Hot Rod magazine – rather, looking at the pictures in Hot Rod magazine.
I tell you this so that you might actually understand the 180 degree difference between my past and my present. You see, the preferred activity for Mr. Fixer and The Carpenter (remember, The Carpenter is the hubby’s best friend), on any given weekend, is to spend a vast number of hours in the garage mucking around with engines, motors, car parts, motorcycle parts, lawn mower parts, grease, oil, gasoline and tools. Lots of tools. Lots and lots and lots and lots of tools!!!
—As an aside, you know how some women out there get all girly and weird about getting a new purse or some new makeup? They seem to get all excited about how many pockets the new bag has or how many interesting colors come in the “color pallet”. It’s as if they have no impulse control whatsoever. When they see something new, no matter how similar it is to what they already have, they just HAVE to buy it.
Well, Mr. Fixer can get just as girly (don’t tell him I said that!!!) when it comes to tools and all things associated with them. He got a new tool bag the other day. He spent quite a long time agonizing over the right one to buy. This one wasn’t big enough. That one wasn’t strong enough. This one was too hard. That one was too soft. You know the drill. Anyway, once he’d finally made the purchase, he actually brought the new tool bag into the living room, hefted the old one in as well and then spent at least an hour deciding on what tools would go into the new bag, where they would go, how they would fit into the pockets, etc.
I love my husband immensely, and he is my absolute best friend in the entire world, but man he is SUCH a girl sometimes! (Again, don’t EVER tell him I said that!!!!!)—
Regardless, Mr. Fixer and The Carpenter love “playing in the garage”. It is their most favoritest activity ever. There are some specific requirements for this activity, however. First and foremost is, of course, something to muck around with. You then need something on in the background, typically either NASCAR or UFC. And finally, you need beer. I don’t know why, you just do. I think it’s part of the tradition.
I don’t know if I’ll ever understand the true value and appeal of “playing in the garage”. I’m pretty sure, though, that I don’t really need to. All I need to know, for sure, is that it makes my husband happy. And, as long as he remains just barely sober enough to say “No.” to some of The Carpenter’s less than brilliant ideas, we’ll be just fine.
Until next time…
D. S. Vic
Please include Northwest Journal in the subject line of all Email. JD_DSVic at yahoo.com
Copyright © 2010 D. S. Vic
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