Open House

"There is a quality even meaner than outright ugliness or disorder, and this meaner quality is the dishonest mask of pretended order, achieved by ignoring or suppressing the real order that is struggling to exist and to be served." - Jane Jacobs

The Old Man was a long-time fan of Jane Jacobs and though Sophie and he lived on the outskirts of town, and a thirty minute drive from a city, there was a mark of Jacobs' in the way he built their home and the way he spread his philosophy. He loved to say "I'm the ruler of this shovel." Though his youthful years as a laborer and hands on construction were more story-based than actual, The Old Man knew tools and could ferret out which ones could do what needed to be done. The shovel was one of his favorites;  he knew how use it and kept the tool mended, repaired or replaced.

What a shovel has to do with Jane Jacobs' beliefs about cities, urban planning and human development lies in The Old Man's choices: He hated wasting a lot of time pretending a lot a talking was going to ever fill a pothole (He's where the shovel came in.) Wasn't a supporter of wiping out blackberry bushes in the name of cleaning things up (Brambles for critters especially Rabbits was primary in his definition for neighborhood). And, when it came to designing a house, except for walls to a bathroom his was an open house (How will the story spread if you wall it off? was one of his other favorite Isms.)

~*~

By the time Sophie, Lei'ohu and Kikepa were ready to leave the moon tattoos and questions, Mahina had sunk behind the wall of trees. It was nearly dawn. The Old Man was fast asleep, enjoying the shift of his long tuned internal clock. This was a new thing, a very different thing. He had kept the small lamp lit for the night-shift of three. His long lean frame was curled onto his side of the punee, the large daybed that was really an any 'ole time bed. Sleeping bags and piles of pillows unfurled beside the punee.

"Brush your teeth!" Sophie whispered.

"I'm too tired, Tutu." There was an echo from the two curly headed girls.

"If you don't care about your teeth, your teeth won't care about you." Sophie rattled her false teeth at the sleepy girls, almost asleep in their boots.

"Ahhh, Tutu." It wouldn't work, but the girls tried the long slow whine anyway. Lei'ohu was still awake enough to offer a bargain. "Can we sleep with Grampa if we brush our teeth?" Sophie looked at her old man tucked into the pillow with his hand gripping it like his shovel. "I suppose. Grampa might think you're his shovel and then what?" That was enough to get the girls to giggling between the brushing and the toothpaste.

It was a super king sized bed that stuck out into the big room unapologetically. The Big Room was a place for sleeping, resting, love-making. It was also the place where meals were eaten, stories told, arguments raised and at the opposite wall furthest from the bed was a computer. Dangling ropes and pulleys created a ceiling maze, encouraged monkey business and inside extravaganzas. As Sophie and The Old Man aged, the ropes and pulleys took on other functions. We'll save that bit for your imagination. A low half-wall with a tiled counter top separated the cooking and dish washing.

All three girls were already dressed for sleep, and with her own toilet complete Sophie switched the bathroom light off, closed the door behind her and found a space to circle herself around two blazing heads of red hair. When the morning light replaced all signs of moon, The Old Man's  large hand clamped lightly around Lei'ohu's tiny arm. The Anna saw it all.

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