Newcomer builds on knowledge

Image credit: Avel Chuklanov on Unsplash.

By T Sathish

Many newcomers come to Canada not having travelled much in other parts of the world prior to their arrival. With less exposure to different ways of doing things, they are often in awe of all things Canadian.

I was not like that. Having lived and worked in many parts of the world, I thought I knew my way around. But you know the saying, pride comes before a fall?

Something like that happened to me one day when our neighbour Jamshed took me along to see the new home they were going to move into. It was still being “finished” and construction was going up all around it in the new subdivision.

My son was fascinated by the huge machinery that dug up the earth and moved materials, but I was more interested in all the wood lying around.

It looked like the whole home had more wood than any other building material. Where were the cement, the bricks and concrete that one saw in homes in India?

I expressed my surprise to my friend, adopting a rather lofty attitude, I am afraid.

“We build homes to last, we build our homes using strong materials like cement and concrete,” I said. “Why do they use so much wood here?”

Jamshed pointed to a massive tree in a parkette across the street and asked, “How old do you think that tree is?”

He then educated me about the fact that Canadian timber is tough and was prized by early builders who believed it was more resistant to fire than steel.

“They have perfected the use of materials that can withstand some of the toughest winters on the planet,” he said. “I think they know what they’re doing!”

Now, many years later, as I awake to an extreme cold weather alert on my phone, I am grateful for the warmth and comfort of my home – constructed from a whole lot of wood!