A: A very tired Scarlett, mentally and physically.
--
I took Geometry in the 9th grade. Confession: I loved it. I loathed all other kinds of math- Algebra, Calculus, Trig, simple multiplication and division. But for some reason, Geometry made complete sense to me. I think it was the way that Geometry panders to my obsessive compulsive personality. Take for instance proofs. Remember those? You had to prove that something was true, such as the area of a triangle, using a step-by-step method of stating mathematical truths. Confusing for some maybe, but if I had it my way, Will Shortz would run one in the New York Times daily. They're fun!
Okay, for me at least.
I remember my teacher, Mrs. Everley, started class each year asking us all what we wanted to be when we grew up. For every occupation given, Mrs. Everley had an example of how Geometry would be useful in everyday work. Architecture may be a given, but Mrs. Everley had been teaching for such a long time that she could convince you that Geometry would be useful for lawyers and artists. She was truely a pro. I'm fairly confident I told her I wanted to be a mom, and I bet she gave me some answer about how Geometry would help me do laundry or something.
Well, Deborah Everley, 15 years later you're actually right. Moms need Geometry, and not just to cut sandwiches into equal triangles. In fact, I needed Geometrical knowledge this weekend as I continued to work my days away as a stay-at-home mother. You win.
Rhett is building our kids (and himself) a two story shed/treehouse. Remember when I asked you what our next project should be and you emailed me with suggestions (main bathroom! screened in back porch!) as to what we should do next? I'm pretty certain none of you voted for a shed/treehouse, but Rhett is kinda in charge here, so a shed/treehouse it is! Isn't it nice to know your vote mattered?
After clearing a spot for the treehouse, Rhett roughly measured out space enough for eight stakes which he used to mark a 10x10 square which became the footprint for the building.
Apparently, it's not good protocal to just eyeball these measurements (if your contractor eyeballs his/her measurements, you might want to worry), so Rhett insisted that we have right angles at all four corners.
"So," Rhett instructed. "What do we need to do to make sure these are right angles?"
My palms began to sweat. Um...a piece of cardboard that was already a perfect right angle? A compass?Where was my iphone so I could look this up?
"The Pythagorean Theorem, right? Remember that from Geometry?"
It sounded vaguely familiar and eventually, after I'm-not-revealing-how-long, it became familiar once more. Taking a second for you?
We measured 3 feet on one side, 4 feet on another, and then...VIOLA! We made sure the points connected on a perfectly measured 5 foot line. After repeating this procedure on all the other corners, we ended up with four right angles. Ladies and gentlemen, we had a square. The first round of this project, however, did not stop with a Geometry refresher course.
Rhett deemed it necessary to put up nine concrete posts to support the subfloor of this new structure- at each corner, halfway on each side, and in the middle. To put in these posts, Rhett needed a post hole digger (pictured below) and asked me, being completely serious, if I knew how to operate a post hole digger. To quote my storybook friend Eloise, "I am a city child." So, no, Rhett darling, I can only guess as to how to operate one of these contraptions.
Of course, Rhett was not at all deterred and saw this only as an opportunity to further my home improvement education, and now I am a post hole digger expert. I have the aching back to prove it.
We dug 9 holes for 9 concrete tubes, and the next day Rhett and his father mixed the concrete to fill into the tubes. And at the end of chapter one of the Shed/Treehouse saga, we have this (without the random tire):
What's on the agenda next for this ambitious project? We'll put down a floor and frame up this little house this coming weekend. I'm really looking forward to seeing Rhett's vision come to life (almost as much as I am seeing how much fun our kids are going to have playing in this treehouse!) but I'd be lying if I wasn't a tad bit hesitant about any upcoming math quizzes or scary new tools to learn to operate.
But learning is what this is all about. Lesson learned here? Playing in the dirt is hard! Almost as difficult as math.
No comments:
Post a Comment