Life of Dave

Life of Dave

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

The Art of Fence

Fencibility

Origin: 2009

Context: in the front, side and backyards of residential neighbourhoods of Vancouver and adjacent suburbs.

Related forms:
Fen-ci-ble, adjective
Fen-ced-ly, adverb
Fen-cing-ly, adverb
Fence-ment, noun

Use in a sentence: The goal is to seek a fencible, safe and off-leash solution to the containment of one’s beloved American Cocker Spaniel.

Forms of treatment: several bottles of chilled micro-brewed beer or ale.

At this point I think I could quite ably teach a course on fencibility. How many times can a simple 4 panel fence be built and re-built?

Or, more simply (but equally as exasperatingly) put…how long is a piece of string?

It’s a good thing I generally enjoy carpentry. Also, it never hurts to work under the guidance and supervision of a trusted carpentry Spaniel.
















You know, the ones bred specifically for their finely tuned ability to identify cedar at 40 paces. Well OK, that’s an exaggeration; they actually MUCH prefer the scent (and taste!) of Milkbones. But none-the-less, I certainly enjoy Shelby’s company while I build stuff. She lowers my blood pressure when fence panels still don’t fit even after being measured twice or thrice.

Actually, I think there is a fair bit of sawdust (not necessarily Cedar) coursing through my veins. My Grandfather apprenticed as a shipwright in his youth and never tired of woodworking his whole life. I’ve inherited his tools and I try to give them a decent workout as often as I can. I’ve added some new technological wonders over the years like a compound mitre saw and a table saw, but there are a number of vintage tools in my wall-mounted tool chest (Grandpa-built) that I don’t even know what they are, much less what to do with them.

I was thinking…if Apple really wants to stomp Microsoft into the ground once and for all, they need to produce a software program called iFence. Simply download the program, select the fence style, and press ‘Enter’. Voila; instant fence.

But then I’d miss out on the smell of fresh-cut Cedar.

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