Finished the rafters today! When we were done, I had the kid cut a small pine tree which I nailed to the ridgeboard. I don’t know why I do that, it’s just that we have always done it , it’s a tradition that has been past down from old timers to youngsters forever, something about honoring the forest or something.
Does anyone know why we do that?
Replies
Refer to the attached article. Pretty interesting.
Cool! Thanks for your post - I love that stuff!
Re: ..."something about honoring the forest or something."
LOL.
About like a guy I worked with a real nature lover. He tells a story about how he got home one day and saw a 'beautiful and majestic buck that looked so wonderful standing in front of a patch of woods with the late afternoon light coming down"
He was so awestruck that he felt compelled to pick up his rifle and blow its guts out. Its beautiful and majestic head and rack now decorate and gather dust on the wall of this guy's den. It is impressive but I suspect it's not quite as majestic stuffed as it was alive.
Not that I think you crossed a line mounting a scrub pine on the roof. That is a historic practice. I just wonder why honoring and admiring power, beauty and grace so often involves destroying what we are celebrating.
Nothing lives unless something else dies,
It's been discussed a few times here. I don't remember ever seeing any very authoritative answers.
http://forums.prospero.com/tp-breaktime/messages?msg=13814.1
http://forums.prospero.com/tp-breaktime/messages?msg=20079.1
http://forums.prospero.com/tp-breaktime/messages?msg=44943.14
I've always done it, too, but it's only been a branch. It was hard enough getting the rafters up there, much less dragging a whole dang tree...tell you what though, if nailing a deer to the ridge would make even one go down to 4lorn1 in Florida, I might do it<G>The poster formerly known as 'Snort
I done it to my house and all the construction projects around her does it too.
Been there done that. Paegan ritual or something or other.
They used to do it all the time in North Africa. Not anymore though.
Yep. I do that too. Honouring the tree is in my mind. Last house I built I put a doll in the footings trench. Throwback to the days when stillborns were buried in the foundations - probably to ward off anything worse happening. Is that gruesome or what?
ciao for niao
To those who know - this may be obvious. To those who don't - I hope I've helped.
I framed an addition on a my friends house who is a landscapers this past winter and he brought me up a Christmas Tree for the ridge and we put lights on it also. This was a first for me.