The Pergola

I had to be up at 4:30 this morning for the first round of It Will Never Work in Theory talks, so I took the day off work. After a nap and some lunch I decided to tear down the old pergola in our garden: some of the wood was rotten and it blocks the light to the garden beds we’ve built.

As I was prying the boards apart I couldn’t help but think that someone must have enjoyed it once upon a time. Someone had built it and trained the honeysuckle to grow on it; someone had probably sat where I’m sitting now and enjoyed looking at it, and now I was just whacking it with a hammer so that I could throw it out with the trash.

And having had that thought I had to wonder if the things I’ve built are destined for the same fate. I have 34 repositories on GitHub and there’s about a million words on this site; will anyone learn from it or will it bring anyone any pleasure after I’m gone, and if so, for how long?

Time to make another cup of tea. If you came in peace, be welcome.