House as Life
Koontz - I was at a dinner party tonight-lovely evening, with food and wine and conversation and when I came home, I reflected on how my friends USE their homes for the continuation of the things they love.
One of my friends at the dinner party is an artist whose garage was converted, by yours truly, into his work studio. He has recently been working in the medium of gunpowder drawings and my last visit to his house, around December, he staged an exhibition of the creation of a drawing. It was quite a festive event-we gathered out back after dark, the only existing light being the outdoor firebox. Robb, (the artist), had a table laid out with the paper and gunpowder and he directed his helpers and the crowd on what was about to transpire. The fuse was lit, and 20 seconds later, we had Robb's latest artwork at hand. With a few "artistic" adjustments, this piece later hung in a local gallery and now hangs in Robb's living room.
The host of tonights dinner party, Lance, is my work partner's brother and one of my good friends. Lance is a musical engineer, home dad and carpenter who is currently working on drawing the plans for an addition to his home. He knows what he wants to do, he knows carpentry and computers, so why hire someone to do what he can figure out himself? It may take a bit longer, but he'll know it's right. His wife, by day a school teacher, but by avocation a horticulturist, invited me as I left this evening to come by in daylight and she would dig up a volunteer plant she's discovered in her yard that is unusually lovely. This woman could grow a flower in a junk yard, I swear. Every place this couple has ever lived has had a yard to die for, with seemingly no effort on the residents part. I know the no effort part isn't true, but she makes it look so easy you would swear you could do it too!
My partner's sister, Kim, also at the dinner party, told us that yesterday she had the living room re-textured and her beau, also at the party, is trying to figure out how to get the two pillar bookcases removed between the dining room and living room of their house to gain some additional usable square footage in the rooms. Kim and Bloyce have made an avocation out of their house. They've upgraded, re-built, repainted and improved nearly every square inch of their 100 year old property.
We talked about my partner's house, which has a veritable forest for a yard, the reason he bought the house in the first place, but now he has to search for clear space above and below the forest line to get enough sun to grow annual flowers.
What strikes me is that all of my friends tonight speak of their homes as part of how they live their lives. The homes may not be perfect-Robb and Rene kind of wish for a bit more room, Keith and Jody love the forest but could do with more sun, Lance and Pat love their locale but have to fight a bit with the layout of their place. Kim and Bloyce have gone through every room, including the outdoors and the garage and really will have no challenges left soon, and I am not thrilled with my neighborhood, but love my remoteness from neighbors and the street scene.
We all have issues with our spaces, but we also all have adapted and learned to utilize what we have to the utmost and we speak of our spaces as though they are part of how we actually function, in a day-to-day sense. I find that intriguing. Our homes as not just an abode, but as part-and-parcel of how we spend our time.
You imagine that you will have to adapt to a new beau, a child, a new pet...but how do our lives change and adapt because of where we live? And is it a positive or a negative? How does our space make us change, grow, create? And if and when we move---is it because we've exhausted our possibilities where we are? Is that what really makes us ready for change? Interesting....
One of my friends at the dinner party is an artist whose garage was converted, by yours truly, into his work studio. He has recently been working in the medium of gunpowder drawings and my last visit to his house, around December, he staged an exhibition of the creation of a drawing. It was quite a festive event-we gathered out back after dark, the only existing light being the outdoor firebox. Robb, (the artist), had a table laid out with the paper and gunpowder and he directed his helpers and the crowd on what was about to transpire. The fuse was lit, and 20 seconds later, we had Robb's latest artwork at hand. With a few "artistic" adjustments, this piece later hung in a local gallery and now hangs in Robb's living room.
The host of tonights dinner party, Lance, is my work partner's brother and one of my good friends. Lance is a musical engineer, home dad and carpenter who is currently working on drawing the plans for an addition to his home. He knows what he wants to do, he knows carpentry and computers, so why hire someone to do what he can figure out himself? It may take a bit longer, but he'll know it's right. His wife, by day a school teacher, but by avocation a horticulturist, invited me as I left this evening to come by in daylight and she would dig up a volunteer plant she's discovered in her yard that is unusually lovely. This woman could grow a flower in a junk yard, I swear. Every place this couple has ever lived has had a yard to die for, with seemingly no effort on the residents part. I know the no effort part isn't true, but she makes it look so easy you would swear you could do it too!
My partner's sister, Kim, also at the dinner party, told us that yesterday she had the living room re-textured and her beau, also at the party, is trying to figure out how to get the two pillar bookcases removed between the dining room and living room of their house to gain some additional usable square footage in the rooms. Kim and Bloyce have made an avocation out of their house. They've upgraded, re-built, repainted and improved nearly every square inch of their 100 year old property.
We talked about my partner's house, which has a veritable forest for a yard, the reason he bought the house in the first place, but now he has to search for clear space above and below the forest line to get enough sun to grow annual flowers.
What strikes me is that all of my friends tonight speak of their homes as part of how they live their lives. The homes may not be perfect-Robb and Rene kind of wish for a bit more room, Keith and Jody love the forest but could do with more sun, Lance and Pat love their locale but have to fight a bit with the layout of their place. Kim and Bloyce have gone through every room, including the outdoors and the garage and really will have no challenges left soon, and I am not thrilled with my neighborhood, but love my remoteness from neighbors and the street scene.
We all have issues with our spaces, but we also all have adapted and learned to utilize what we have to the utmost and we speak of our spaces as though they are part of how we actually function, in a day-to-day sense. I find that intriguing. Our homes as not just an abode, but as part-and-parcel of how we spend our time.
You imagine that you will have to adapt to a new beau, a child, a new pet...but how do our lives change and adapt because of where we live? And is it a positive or a negative? How does our space make us change, grow, create? And if and when we move---is it because we've exhausted our possibilities where we are? Is that what really makes us ready for change? Interesting....
posted by Remodeling Repartee at 9:14 PM
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