So what is Shed Talk?

Let's start from the beginning.  When I decided to do this blog (or was convinced to do so by my wife), I wanted to come up with an interesting name.  I don't know why.  I don't know much about blogs.  I don't read any on a regular basis.  Something just told me I needed a name.  That served as a problem because that kind of creativity is not my forte.  When we sign birthday cards at work, I just sign "Hope you had a great birthday" because I would spend too much time coming up with something creative.  I always have what I think are funny ideas, but I always talk myself out of them.  I think that they are too corny and I'll look like a dork or it's a joke that the person may not get.  So I choose thoughtful and sincere, but safe, conservative, and to the point.

So I couldn't think of anything that I liked.  But it just came to me during one of the few quiet moments I have during the day, while I was shaving.  It's the first thing I do when I get up in the morning, and it happens before I have to be a husband, a dad, or a hard-working employee.  No fighting traffic, no ringing phones or emergency emails, and no juice cups to fill or trips to the backyard for bathroom time (the dog, not the child).  But I digress.

Something made me think of my grandfather.  I was lucky enough to grow up across the street from my grandparents.  My grandmother passed away when I was in the 7th grade, and I was fortunate to have my grandfather until several years ago when he passed away from the effects of diabetes and several other health issues.  In his earlier years he was a carpenter, but by the time I got older he was "retired" and spent his days farming the land around his house.  I always admired his hard-working spirit.  He had a gruff exterior, but on the inside, I believe lied a man that deeply cared for others, especially his family.

He would spend sunny days sitting outside this shed, or if it was raining, would move inside under its room .  It wasn't much to speak of, just a tin shed that housed a couple of tractors, a lawnmower, and his tools.  That speaks to the time and place I grew up in the fact that it never was locked but nothing ever seemed to get stolen.  That could be from the fact that folks knew pawpaw had plenty of guns and a little bit of a temper.  Some other things that were always under the shed were chairs, and that is the main inspiration in the name of the blog.

Pawpaw's shed seemed to be a destination of sorts for men in the community.  It served as a gathering place for people to stop by and talk.  I've now termed those discussions shed talk.  Pawpaw would eat supper at night with us after my grandmother passed.  We'd spend many a night waiting to eat supper because someone was next door at Pawpaw's, and we didn't want to start without him.  It seemed like there was always someone over there.  Which is very interesting because Pawpaw was not a big talker.  And that's something now that I regret.  I regret not asking more questions and having him tell me more stories.  I do remember stories about him serving overseas in WWII.  He'd talk about riding the trains for days to get back home after being on one of the Army bases.

That was a large inspriration for me to start this blog.  This is a way for me to tell my stories.  Like my Pawpaw, I'm not a big talker.  But this gives me an avenue to express my thoughts and opinions.  Like visitors to the shed, there could be different people dropping by from time to time reading this (or there could be no one at all).  But one thing this shed talk won't do is make you late for supper.

The tractors, lawnmower, and tools are all gone, but the shed still stands to this day.  I think that speaks to the solid way in which things were built in that day, no shortcuts.  So this blog is to honor my Pawpaw and the men that sat in and around that shed.  Come on by anytime, there's always an empty chair for you.