Chapter 14 - The Finished Frame

Chapter 14 - The Finished Frame

I’ve read that traditionally, the completion of a timer frame is celebrated by nailing a pine bough to the peak of the frame. I recall considering this tradition and how I might abide by it. Cutting a Colorado pine bough and nailing it to a frame that was made from Pennsylvania oak trees just didn’t seem appropriate. I had no oak boughs from Pennsylvania and the local scrub oak didn’t seem appropriate either. For better, or for worse, I was interrupted before the frame was completed, the party of my neighbors watched me install the last purlin and by the time the champagne was gone, the pine bough tradition was too late and totally out of mind! This was not exactly a traditional timber frame and certainly not built in the traditional fashion, so maybe the tradition was not appropriate anyway. In many respects, it was more like launching a new ship. Carl even wanted to smash a Campaign bottle on the bow but wasn’t sure where the bow was or that we had enough Campaign to waste a whole bottle. In any case, the frame was done, the ship launched and Linda and I have been enjoying it every day since.