Making the old new again
I’m sitting in the back seat of son John’s pickup after watching him and two helpers dismantle a 1990s steel storage shed just outside of the town of Los Osos near San Luis Obispo. I’m struggling trying to make sense out of all the stuff we humans have stored behind any barrier that might keep it from the public’s view and just rotting away. John has asked me if I wanted to go with him to see what hidden treasures that might be hiding behind this old storage shed that would awaken my imagination, which had been put into a stupor from spending too much time looking at a vast wasteland called TV. But, like the treasure hunt I was about to go on, television has some treasures, albeit few and far between.
We just made a left turn off the main road and onto a dirt road headed for a group of trees and then, a sharp right turn and there it was a patina paradise of second hand stuff. It gave me the same feeling that somebody would get after rescuing a dog or cat from the pound. I can hear it now as some animal lover with no sense of humor says “What a jerk how can anyone comepair a pile of junk to a dog or cat?” Having a rather broad mind I have the pleasure of treasure hunting for things that are in need of a do over at junk auctions or an old barn that the owner wants torn down during the day, and scratching my dog’s belly at night.
Day two and it’s about 10:30am. We had just unloaded yesterday's treasures, which was a metal shed that measured 40 X 80 and all kinds of things made of steel. John is going to put the shed back up and use it for a shop as his original shop burned down around 18 years ago. The owner gave John another building that was strictly a tear down but there was a tin roof that I had use for and all the nice 2X6 lumber used to support the roof so I took two of my employees and two pickups with flatbed trailers plus John had his pickup and trailer.
Once the roof was off all the contents were ready to be looked at it was just like Christmas Day. I rummaged through years of accumulating agriculture related stuff like a pipe wrench, lots of steel flex conduit with three wires inside, just what a dark set of corrals needed so we can now work after dark in the cool of the night.
I had my kind of a day, especially when I know that if I went to Home Depot and Farm Supply, John and I probably would have spent 30 or 40 thousand dollars if we had bought all this stuff new. So I ask you, what could be more exhilarating than spending two days watching two buildings being torn down and knowing that all this hoard would find new life at Parkfield and the V6 Ranch?
See Ya,
Jack