Heroes of the Bench
Remember that industrial arts teacher with his ‘special dark pencil’* all those years ago? Perhaps the landscape artist who somehow sprinkled glorious morning light onto dull canvas. Or the old codger over the fence, always tinkering with...
Remember that industrial arts teacher with his ‘special dark pencil’* all those years ago? Perhaps the landscape artist who somehow sprinkled glorious morning light onto dull canvas. Or the old codger over the fence, always tinkering with something, the sound of his handsaw a rhythmic addition to the cricket on his old valve radio.
There’s often someone in our lives who is good at something: that person who gazes at a crossword then casually leans over and fills it in, the bloke who listens to a running engine and diagnoses noisy tappets, the one who transforms a skein of fabric into a marvel of fashion, or the teen who goes tap-tap-tap on the keyboard … and the blue screen of death is banished.
At the Men’s Shed there is every chance you will meet one of these heroes of the bench. Then again, you may meet a bloke who’s trying to persuade two pieces of timber to stay together, another man puzzling over a recalcitrant lawn mower, or a poor sod whose chair is still just a bit, well, wobbly.
But the great thing is they’re not doing it alone. Together, shoulder to shoulder, helping, teaching, learning; it all comes together. Always. And not just timber, fabric, or a motor. It’s men getting themselves back together, from loneliness, despair, sickness, booze – life!
Your Men’s Shed, open again, Covid-19-safe and full of laughter and meaningful stuff.
Visit helensburghmensshed.org.au, email info@helensburghmensshed.org.au. We’re at 199A Parkes Street Helensburgh; 9am-3pm Monday and Tuesday. Contact: Michael Croft (0413 401 522) or Ron Balderston (0410 564 752).
(* ‘Special dark pencil’ – a black biro. Thanks, Mr Dixon.)
