PEOPLE, PLACES, THINGS - where does the octopus fit in?

As things progress at the Big House we find now is the time to include the Octopus.  Our Octopus is not the kind one often finds written about such as in  The mind of an Octopus ; where It's interesting to note that creature of the sea spend a lot of time taking care of their dens.  Our creature at 851 Union, is to be a den of a different sort.  

This creative design is the infill behind the Big House that is connected by a common mechanical room.  We jokingly came up with the name of the Octopus yet when I read more about the sea creature it was enlightening to discover this 8 armed mollusc or cephalopod,  has two forms of control operating in tandem;  neurons in the arms and in the central brain.  The mechanical room at 851 will be like the central brain and the Big House and Octopus structures will be like the arms -- at least that's an analogy I like to extend to the project.

There are so many layers of love encompassing this piece of land it's sometimes hard to know where to begin when writing.  Focus can be a challenge  so let's look at some images and let the layers of information start from the visual.

I laughed the other day when a friend said to me  "Hey, Mira your doors open".   I told her how odd it was to see the Big House look like a huge doll house at this stage and when I sit inside, on the chair that was left behind, and contemplate on the infill to come all I can say is "this is one layered learning experience".   Learning about the pitt, markings, going from ideas to reality and layers are under the Octopus heading of this site.

While sitting in the chair left behind,  I think about the people who came before, the ones presently involved and those to come.  Aging in place is more than a concept.

COMMUNITY -- it takes a village...

Last week and when I went to pick up the time lapse shots at my neighbour Ewan's place, I thought about people coming together to share the eclipse experience.  There was a gathering at the local park where I saw people with boxes on their heads, a few others with glasses that were sharing with anyone who didn't, and kids pointing out the moon shaped shadows from the trees.  It was a moment in time during a historical event.

When I looked at the time lapse that had been captured during the last month something of interest caught my eye.  Happy to share a short episode of progress at the Big House where the lady of stature is stripped of her shingles and left to grace us with her bronze tones of armour that come from trees that were growing over 200 years ago.  What caught my eye in this time lapse was the falling light in the sky on the right side of the frame (9 nights in a row?) -- possibly shooting stars that we can wish upon? ...

Wishing you ecliptic moments and falling stars ( be they light from the sky and/or landing planes) in your community.

PROGRESS -- on the day of the solar eclipse

Today we are experiencing the solar eclipse and here are a few progress images of the house in transition.  Happy solar eclipse...

ART -- or part of the story in the art of living...

Aging in place is the goal here and has been covered in the blog before as has the impetus and focus of this project -- my Mom, aka "Mama Mia", "Strigica", "G-cat", the list of her nicknames goes on.   This woman is a living work of art and that's the truth.   It's a comedy show that might well be called My Extraordinary Adventures with Dinka. 

Anyone who is a child of immigrants will pretty much get it right off the bat.  Others who will understand are those who are open minded to the escapades of diversity and otherness.  I have often said, "we all come from a village somewhere, it's just a matter of how connected we still are to that place."  

That connection is what makes us compassionate and grounded in what is real.  Speaking of real, I hope you've heard the story of Searching for Sugarman.  Recently, I had the good fortune to go to a concert by Sixto Rodriguez who hit the nail on the head when it comes to life.  This is the man who says he's not a legend but rather an ordinary legend...coming from an honest place or life and still being able to tell it like it is.

G-cat, short for Gramma cat, has that uncanny ability to tell it like it is as well and her direct approach to life always puts a smile on my face.  In fact,  if I had a nickle for everytime she said "I'm finished" this project would be paid for 3 times over.  It's her way of coping with aging and it always makes for a chuckle and a response of something like "oh ya, really well where you going?"  or "oh no you don't we have a lot of things to do".  The art of my Mom is endless.

There are plenty of stories about the wacky adventures she takes me on, most of them completely unintentional.  Most recently, I went to her place with the intention of dropping off some figs.  She LOVES figs, in fact when we travel to the old country she can't walk past a fig tree without stopping to explore if any are ripe enough for her to snatch and savour.  Like a Magpie she can't help herself and there never seems to be an end to how many times this pattern can repeat itself or how many figs can be consumed.  So I'm thinking, ok drop off figs, say "HI", quick check in the office and I'm outta there 10- 15 min. max.  

Hahahahaha and I'm still laughin' -- like what, whhhhhhaaat could you possibly have been thinking Willis?  Four hours later, scratching my head, I've put away the figs, taken out the recycling twice, completed a garbage run, co-piloted 3 telephone conversations she's been on, stick handled her set up for having friends over for "coffee" (which is never coffee but a mini-meal), run to the store for one thing (which is never one thing), strategized around a mini-meltdown in the office,  done a stint as stylist for the evening outfit, purged unnecessary items in the immediate area, had a financial planning session and re-built her car.  Okay, I exaggerated on the car part.  

All this happened while the G-cat smiled, like a cheshire cat, graciously accepting the figs I brought stating "oh, if you get moore don't forget to breeng them two mi".  

As I drive home realizing two things for myself: 1) I forgot to eat a fig  and 2) I forgot to have kids.  Hmmmm, best I make sure I have somewhere to live where I can age in place.