Turn Of The Wrench

Wandering through the internet tonight, I followed a tiny, intriguing lane off my main road and ended up at The Dipso Chronicles.  It was an unexpectedly wonderful turn, it's so rare to find a place so beautifully tended that I had to share it with you when I encountered this post.  Pete Moore immediately came to mind, followed in quick succession by several other manly writers and regular pundits who grace this site. Andy's a wordsmith of fine order and his entire site is a well crafted statement of his thoughts. There is nothing political to dissect in this excerpt, unless gnashing your teeth over traditional gender related activities juices your gears, I just thought you might enjoy reading something a little different off our well beaten path.

"There is nothing better than a few turns of the wrench for keeping a man anchored in his masculine nationalism, and when a man can live in that, he can truly be at home. We have industry in our bones, we have gears and oils and tunability to thank for our oddly coarse sensitivity, our harsh and unyielding adaptability. Paradoxical? To be sure. But it must have been a thoughtful, careful, and compassionate bunch of men to conceptualize the garish industrialism that has brought us to this particular sense of national confidence and promise that we can harbor. No one slow and brutish could have brought about something as delicate as an engine, those 12 cylinder beauties in the noses and wings of WWII aircraft; the turbo-diesels of today's massive main battle tanks, whose incredible weight belies their agility and nimbleness. This is why I, we, are at home under the hood and breaking our knuckles. Why a man's only real comfort zone is in the seat of his rig. Because for those of us who give credit for our prosperity not to god, but to the hand of man himself, a greasy garage floor is the only altar we can take seriously."

Comments

[DSD]

Ah, if only it were true in my case, sadly the fact that my mother has just indulged her occasional taste for satire and bought me a DVD entitled 'Beginners Guide to DIY' is probably an accurate indicator of my talents in this kind of area.

[Pete Moore]

It's well said and in all of we manly men, Daphne. Many are natural born mechanics, engineers and builders, and many of our greatest were pretty much self-taught.

Sitting in a classroom listening to the flannel that passes for education does alot of boys no favours. It's mind-numbing and unnatural to them.

Anyway, funnily enough I spent an hour this weekend being a bloke, checking the oil, water, air, hoses and a few other things on the motor.

Then I nipped off to Laura Ashley to ... erm ...order new curtains. They do have gorgeous fabrics.

[Monica]

And on the opposite side, I can think of nothing better than being dusted with flour, kneading the dough, carefully tending it as it rises by the fire, and then watching the bread as it turns golden brown while baking in the oven.

Of course, no more bread for me for awhile - as I am now low-carbing it...

But, God bless the manly man!!

[Daphne]

I can't bake a loaf of bread to save my life. I love to cook, but there is something about making bread that completely escapes me - it never turns out properly. It's inedible every single time and usually ugly as a stump.

[Monica]

I'm a terrible cook, Daphne - but a fantastic baker. I think you're either one or the other. Thankfully for my household Troll is an excellent cook.

[Colm]

If there was a missing R in the title , it could still have been about other talents of manly men !

[Gordon]

I honestly think that the difference between those who love Sarah Palin, and what she stands for, and those who hate, hate her, can be derived from the above statement.