More Than Just a Woodshed

That's my grandfather sitting on the doorstep of what was his woodshed. The woodshed was attached to the back of the farmhouse. Inside the woodshed, there was a door that opened up into the kitchen, making it easier when working out in the shed, chopping wood up into pieces. All that the wood chopper needed to do after chopping was open that door, walk a few feet into the kitchen to the wood box sitting by the woodstove and dump the new supply of chopped wood into it. I remember being in the kitchen, able to hear someone chopping wood in the woodshed. I loved the smell of the chopped wood. Loved the saw dust and wood shavings all over the place.

Another thing I loved in that woodshed was the wooden platform leading from the door in the kitchen to a set of stairs that took you down to the dirt floor in the woodshed or back up and through to the kitchen depending which way you were going. It was a good-sized wooden platform. Perfect for stacking wood and more importantly, perfect for putting on what my cousin and I called, "Shows." We considered them to be as spectacular as Broadway Shows. After all, we'd be performing. 

On a day when we were in production, we'd sweep our stage, getting rid of the sawdust and wood chips and whatever else had collected. Oh the dust it must have created but I can't remember ever being bothered by any dust. After all, we were also the stage crew. We couldn't let a little dust stop us. And it didn't. 

After cleaning the stage, we figured out where our audience could sit. That might have included old chairs and footstools kept in the woodshed. Old boards kept in place by good-sized blocks of wood at one end and maybe extending the board through a ladder on the other worked just fine. Whatever we used, it always worked. Our audience never complained. But first, we had to invite them. That meant telling grandparents, aunts, uncles and other cousins and siblings about the upcoming event in the woodshed. We were certain they'd be as excited to attend as we were presenting.

Anticipation always grew before showtime. We'd peek through the kitchen door to see if everyone had arrived. Sometimes we couldn't wait. Out the door we'd go onto our old wooden stage, singing and dancing and being silly. My most favorite songs to belt out included "Oh My Papa" and "I'm Going to Sit Right Down and Right Myself a Letter." I can't remember but I think the audience went wild after each performance.

Come to think about it, those award-winning performances mirrored anything presented on The Lawrence Welk Show. Maybe they were even better considering the spectacular natural atmosphere that woodshed offered, including the smell of chopped wood with sawdust and wood shavings all over the place.