The Walk Beside

My Shed Cred is Dead

Posted on September 13th, 2007 by Cam.
Categories: Let's talk.

I like sheds. If I wasn’t living where I am living, I would like to live in a big shed where I could pull my car right into, step out of the car and sit straight onto the couch in front of an open fire. A big industrial shed in the middle of the city would be ideal, and I would grow plants inside the shed to make it feel a bit connected to the outside world using effective natural sky-lighting and lots of glass. Fantastic.
As from today, we have a shed. This is not a shed that fits into my schema of what I believe a shed should be. For a start, we ordered the shed out of a catalogue. We didn’t design, converse with engineers, discuss structural integrity etc., we just circled a design, chose a colour and added and optional skylight.
I have previously bought two other sheds. One took me and a mate a whole day to dismantle and transport, the other one took a big truck to drop off at my house. The shed that arrived today is not like these other sheds.
When I got home this evening, I almost forgot that the shed had been delivered. I asked them to ‘unload’ it outside our door. It wasn’t there, but at least our neighbours received their cardboard box (obviously containing a broom-set, or totem-tennis kit, possibly badminton nets). So I took the torch out to search the complex for my shed walls, trusses, industrial components etc. Not finding anything, I took a closer look at the neighbour’s delivery. It was our ‘shed’. I feel so inadequate.
I never thought that I would unwrap a shed from a cardboard box. What manlihood I had before can now be further questioned. I am just thankful that it was dark when Libs and I smuggled it from the neighbour’s wall into our living room.
Needless to say, I won’t be pulling any car into this shed. Planting plants inside will be limited to small species of lichen and possibly the occasional fungal outbreak, and the natural lighting I am going to assume will be provided by sun that I believe will have no problem penetrating the thin tin walls which may or may not hold up a roof.
We will see. It may surprise me, again.

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