Editor’s note: The following article is a synopsis written by staff members and volunteers of the Cary Public Library highlighting one of the suggested reading books, as determined by their staff.
I have always enjoyed traipsing through older houses, seeing all the nooks and crannies folks have fitted in over time. There is always a surprise or two lurking around the corners.
Our book this week was written by an engineer; but the many facets he explores in his summer home make him also an historian, naturalist, philosopher, detective, prophet and an artist of sorts.
Henry Petroski and his wife, Catherine, bought an old cottage on the bank of the Kennebec River a wee distance from Bath, Maine. They delight in their new neighbors, the entire island of Arrowsic, traffic on the river, and most of all the endless sleuthing of the unique construction of their new purchase.
As is often the case, the reader learns and if diligent, will find the meanings of new words before continuing to read. So, ready for a few? Fenestration, plat, burgles, chamfered edges, scantlings, saw kerfs, balloon and post and beam construction, furring, and Brobdingnagian. Well, that’s a few!
One of their discoveries was there were fewer than 12 different sizes of lumber used in the house as originally built. All edges were smoothed and careful attention paid to matching the knotty pine and hand-made hardware for hinges and door handles.
Mr. Petroski tells little stories about this Arrowsic Island, nearby Bath Iron Works and the traffic jams in Wiscasset which he allows will go on forever in “perhaps the prettiest traffic bottleneck in Maine”.
Mrs. Petroski’s black and white photos were a disappointment at first and she explains the purpose of that in her photographer’s notes. Two of these photos show matching, side-by-side glider rockers facing the River and again facing the living room: well, they surely beat those twin tubs portrayed in the obnoxious TV commercial.
This book is for those loving Maine, the coast, exploring older homes and having a curious streak. Enjoy!
The Cary Public Library is open Monday-Wednesday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. For more information, call 532-1302.
