Symbolically, the white picket fence has become to be known as a goal, perhaps even an ideal. Realistically, the white picket fence to me means hard work. The bigger the fence, the more work that goes into it. From the outline of framing the property, to marking out where holes will be dug all the way to putting that last picket on. There is a lot of work to be done to get to the point of putting up the last picket and essentially finishing the fence.
Hoping of course that your lines are true and that the estimates of material have worked out. Then there is the issue of the weather. I am sure you can buy your white picket fence, there are a number of prefabricated fences that you can buy where half the work is done for you but is that fence the same as the one where you cut all of the material and finish the material yourself? Even with a prefab fence you will still have to plan out how the fence goes in though.
Luckily all of the planning is behind us and we can now focus on taking advantage of the nice weather and paint the primer coat on the rest of the fence posts and stringers. At the same time the rest of the pickets can be sanded and readied to be primed. Luckily we have a bunch of them that were primed and have been drying for a few days. With the nice weather this afternoon, we started hanging pickets on the fence.
This of course brought out all the foreman and looky loos who have a tendency to take you out of your groove that you find yourself in when you have found a process that works. It took me about ten pickets to find my groove and now all of the rest I will put up will be great. We did get a lot of people who took a few pictures or used the video feature of their cameras to conduct an interview while I was working. It was a great day of work today.
To get back to the symbolism of a white picket fence, I guess you can look to the ideal goal of most people. Having their own home, career, family and to round it all out,the white picket fence. I guess this can be in a sense a traditional goal in that those values have been passed on to you from your parents and grandparents. It means pretty much that for us here and the elders who remember when the big church had a white picket fence over 50 years ago. Our crew is bringing that back and Paul and I who were nailing up the pickets got a lot of compliments on how nice it looks and we are just getting started.
There is still a lot of work to be done but seeing a portion of the fence as it will be (minus the final coat of paint but already primed) sure made for a great day of work.
It is interesting to consider only what the white picket fence symbolizes and not consider what the fence itself represents. I keep thinking that it is ironic that the ideal of the white picket fence and striving for that level of success also symbolizes putting up a barrier.
*shrugs* It does look nice though. =)
Sounds good. Nice, satisfying work, huh?
By: Fupas on September 22, 2009
at 6:09 pm
It is and I enjoyed your comments in the other blog. =)
By: E_Dragon on September 22, 2009
at 7:05 pm
Wow, you are just brimming with pride, but I noticed that your blog entry is also brimming with symbolism.
Oh, and you would probably NOT like my Gen Elec course (Contact and Conflict with Aboriginal People). The prof is FN, he is in his 60’s, he says “you people” a lot (not in a mean way, but like I said, he’s in his 60’s) and he says, “I was born and Indian, and I will die an Indian”. I respect him, he kinda scares me a bit, and has an opinion about certain things regarding certain Western Coastal People that … well … let’s just say he probably won’t be there for Crabfest.
I, however, would love to be there for it.
By: NIAC on September 23, 2009
at 11:11 am
LOL I probably wouldn’t like the course but I would probably have fun in there. =)
Yeah 60 is about the current age where there is still a lot of hurt and mistrust from First Nations and I can say that because I feel that they are proud to be called an “indian”, a misnomer given to them under the guise of a name. I never liked the term.
Drat, lunch hour is over already, be back later.
By: E_Dragon on September 23, 2009
at 11:47 am
Also the sun is gone already which kinda sucks since I had such a great day working outside yesterday. Stupid rain.
Looks like inside painting again. Oh well, at least it gets done.
By: E_Dragon on September 23, 2009
at 11:50 am
What is odd is that he will actually say he is Ishnabe – but then uses the term Indian.
I mean – to each their own, I guess.
I told him I might be able to talk you into being a guest speaker.
(NOT a guest arguer. Is arguer a word?)
By: NIAC on September 25, 2009
at 3:25 am
I am hoping that the term “indian” will one day be worked out of the consciousness of Western Civilization. It is a misnomer and a vehicle with which to hold down and keep an entire race of people under the thumb of a controlling (and in their words ‘conquering’) government. If ever there was a place and and time for this quote, it is now: “Control is an Illusion.”
Canada will never give full rights to Native People’s because they don’t have that power to do so. They would never do this though because they have gotten comfortable on their high horse and no matter how much of a drain it is, the Ministry of Indian Affairs has some seniority now and yeah, they would never give up their “perceived grasp” of native Peoples.
They can however give back some of the power that they have usurped with their “Band Registry and band Councils” that do nothing except to undermine the true power of a People. Their Tradition and Lineage.
Luckily this is being seen these days and yeah if you want to hear more, you need to get your prof to arrange for me to come over. LOL
Of course I would want to sit down with him prior just so that I don’t undo all his work. =) That would take away any chance of being an arguer. Wait, you will be in the audience, I guess I better hone my arguer skills. LOL
By: E_Dragon on September 26, 2009
at 2:45 pm
I want tickets to the Fanshawe rumble!
Ah, the Canadian dream…. pretty much the same as the American dream just more syrupy.
We are raised to think that is the ideal existense, but as I age I seriously doubt it. From my experience, behind nearly every white picket fence are some nasty skeletons in the closets.
By: seth on September 25, 2009
at 9:00 am
Hi Seth,
I was pretty much writing that with the american dream in mind. Given my previous comment reply to NIAC, I should actually say, The North American Dream since it is what Western Civilization is.
As for skeletons in the closet, I guess an Anglican Church with over a hundred years of history must have skeletons but they are well hidden if so. That Church has been nothing but good memories for me. Weddings and funerals alike, they are all good memories.
For us, the fence is a reminder of where this Community has come from. Our forefathers who founded this community did so with Christianity at their heart. Now that is a bit of a contradiction since Christianity would have you give up your cultural identity in the name of a God that is not ours to begin with. That doesn’t mean to say that in our oral histories, there isn’t a story of the First Being, the Raven who brought light to the darkness and even a story to go along with The Flood (circa Noah’s Ark?).
When the Church was first built, it had a fence that I guess had some symbolism to it as well. One could argue that the fence was there to keep the heathenism at bay (it was the end of the 1800’s and the beginning of the 1900’s when this church was built).
Today it is a symbol of our ability to maintain who we are no matter what we are going through. My take on it of course. =)
Fences are weird though. They have a beauty all their own, whether you look at the aesthetics of the fence, the building of the fence or the purpose of the fence, you cannot ignore the fact that a fence is also there to keep things in or keep things out.
By: E_Dragon on September 26, 2009
at 2:58 pm
As long as fences don’t keep things quiet.
By: NIAC on September 29, 2009
at 6:18 am