Sweat equity

By Christine Tailer
HCP columnist

Folks who know that we lived in a 366-square-foot house for 12 years and then moved into our larger 930-square-foot log home, often exclaim, "Well, you two must certainly get along well."

We smile.

These folks have no doubt imagined that discord would eventually set in, not only living in such small spaces, but building those spaces ourselves. Choices of color, or where to place this or build that must be certain to draw discussion, if not downright argument, they opine, but these folks are wrong.

Yes, Greg and I do get along, but that is not to say that we never disagree. I love the color green, in all of its many shades. Greg loves every color imaginable, except green, but he humors me, and every single one of our many farm buildings have green metal roofs, from the outhouse turned into an animal feed shed, to the barns and shops, to our log home. Even the outside doors on our home are green, and all of the windows sport lovely green trim. 

And Greg has always dreamed of his own machine shop, so we have acquired old machines, from metal brakes, to milling machines and lathes, and we built a shop in which to house them.

The secret to our compromise is simple. We work together, and by work, I mean in the very literal sense of the word. We build and sweat together. 

We have carried heavy boards and amazingly heavy logs. We have hoisted solar panels atop poles we set into the ground in holes that we dug. We have hefted windows into place, and then stood back to look and measure and make sure that they were level. We’ve climbed ladders. We’ve measured and measured again, and then cut the needed boards as we wiped sawdust out of our eyes, and as we’ve worked, we sing along with the radio, and each other, and plan what we might be building next.

No doubt about it, we work hard through the day, until we are wonderfully tired, and then we look at each other and agree that it is time to call it a day, and we put away our tools. We retire to the cabin's front porch, and angle our chairs, cool beverage in hand, so we can look out across the gravel driveway and admire our creations.

And here I must share with you that it really is my appreciation of all of Greg's hard work, and even without asking him, I imagine that it is his appreciation of mine, that has allowed us to give to the other whatever it is that the other might wish. Some might say that we are building sweat equity into our world. I know that we are building our love for each other.

Christine Tailer is an attorney and former city dweller who moved several years ago, with her husband, Greg, to an off-grid farm in Ohio south-central Ohio. Visit them on the web at straightcreekvalleyfarm.com.