The Carpenter and The Columns by John Leeke

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I am always on the lookout for people who have a real connection with the work they do -- those who have either been smart, stubborn, or fortunate enough to realize how what they do with their life affects others. But I don't remember ever reading something that captures this idea so completely as the brief essay, "The Carpenter and the Columns," that home preservationist John C. Leeke has on his website. John has graciously allowed me to post it here.

I would love to live in a world where the majority of people, if not indeed everybody, felt this way about their work.

The Carpenter and The Columns

I erected two Tuscan Columns today.

  • I help my neighbor with her porch and connect with my community.
  • I work with the masons and the tile setters and connect with my fellow tradesmen.
  • I level the plinth squaring it with the sill and I connect with the carpenter who built this house a century ago.
  • I hang the plumb bob and connect with my father who handed it to me and showed me how to use it.
  • I align the axis of the column with the center of the earth and I connect with the universe beyond.
  • I lift the column and connect with its weight against the world.
  • I run my hand up along the curve of entasis and connect with the Greek artisans who devised this shape three millennia in the past.
  • I trim a bare sixteenth off the end of the shaft with my back saw and I connect with the student who needs to know.
  • I erect the shaft from base to capital and connect with its intent to take the load.
  • I catch the value of my labor and connect with my family whom I support.
  • I share this story with you and we connect to do the real work of this world.

I rest at day’s end, well connected.

--John Leeke, American Preservationeer
Portland, Maine, USA, June, 2005

Feel free to e-mail your comments on this story, or tell one of your own. Stop in any time you see us out here on the porch, and catch another story.

Copyright © 2010 John C. Leeke
Used with permission

Source: http://www.historichomeworks.com/hhw/frontporch/front.htm