The Backyard Palace

Recently Kylie bought me a book, which seems a little odd at first because I haven't read one since high school where there was no choice, but she's picked the right topic: Sheds!

Its essentially a collection of terrific stories about aussie men and their backyard palaces. It contains extracts of proud moments, first children's shed steps, births, deaths, marriages, obsessions, avoidance of other people and the unnatural (some would say primate) phenomena of man's attraction to it.

I've read the majority of it now but wanted to share an extract that most of you can relate to and hopefully enjoy.

"The Tragedy Of The Shedless"
Eric lives in a rented house, and he's a shed orphan. Landlords take a dim view of tenants setting up sheds. They probably worry that one day they may have to clean them up.

Lamenting the plight of the tenant, Eric says, "A rented shed is never quite yours. You can't get settled down." Layers of personal history are not allowed to accumulate in a rented shed. There's no chance of ever developing a rich stew of objects and projects, safe in the knowledge that they can rest undisturbed for years on end if necessary.

What does this un-met yearning do for the shedless? They hang around the sheds of others or just shut that part of their lives off completely. The flat dweller, the urbanly consolidated, the tenant, have all to anaesthetise the urge of therapy opportunities opening up...

To avoid being sued by the author, I didnt write the above, its a quote, no credit taken only credit given, its available at all good (and some bad) bookstores. Its written by Mark Thomson and it's well worth a read.

: P