10 More reasons to be happy

The schoolhouse -- a perfect house shape

Okay! I've been thinking about the schoolhouse and trying
to figure out why I love it. It is really the simplest
of structures -- a child's drawing of a house in shape --
as so many houses in our area of Nova Scotia are. But
if you drive across the distance between Toronto
and Nova Scotia, to the Pugwash area, you'll realize
that many neighbourhoods along the way attempt
this shape, but in Nova Scotia they succeed. The box
part of the house, and the roof peak have to be in perfect
proportion, and that's something the fine wood builders
of the province understand and have since the
wooden ship days when they created some of the most
beautiful sailing ships in the world.

Now our schoolhouse is 100 years old. Yes. This year
she's 100. So she has seen some history. The couple
who owned it before us put on a second floor. They had a young
child, and limited time and funds, so it is just a sub
floor really. But I love the smell of the pine they used,
and the wide planks. I love looking out the thin
windows they put in the upper level and seeing the
poplars they planted as tiny saplings, fully grown trees
flickering their leaves in the salt wind. Downstairs is a wide airy
space, with a crude kitchen set up at one end, and tall
windows that let in as much light as a painter would
ever want. She is set on an acre of land, rimmed by
pine and spruce trees, some of which have crashed and
died since we've owned the place. But Steven and I planted
small trees to replace them in among the wild roses and apple
trees, that also sit on the circumference, and they are growing
nicely.

We have very little furniture, the couch is an old wicker thing
that's seen better days. We plan to toss the orange leatherette
chair which is excruciatingly ugly, but haven't yet because
it's comfortable. The blackboard has notes and drawings on it
from every summer we've been there.

So that's a little bit of why I love the place.

Did I get to 10? You count for me. I can easily keep going.

Have a loving-the-place-you-live-in day.