Good fences

We have been building fences in our yard this summer. First a small one that runs between our house and my large loud neighbor. She, the rotund woman who sits on her porch and talks at such a loud level that sometimes I wake to hear her berating birds. She not crazy, she loud.

I did not build the fence to shut her up, and of course, it has not happened. I did build it to discourage people from walking between her house and mine. That has worked. The second smaller fence was in the back of the house, between a neighbors garage and my garage. That went up fast and it has no purpose but to dissuade walkers from coming between the garages. No one has ever done that anyway, but it seemed like a wise thing to do.

Today we put a fence between us and the neighbor on the other side, but since no one lives in that big beautiful brick home, it is a fence to again keep people in and keep Beth the super dog in our yard. We have about 30 feet more of fence to go before Beth has her own space.

I was wondering how important space is. I just saw a video on a man who lives in a home that is about 90 square feet. I have been living in homes that are generally between 2500 and 3000 square feet, but then, for the most part, I have had children living with me and anyone who has had children living with them knows that the more space, the more peace.

In a large enough home you can accomplish quite a bit. In one room I can paint pretty pictures and in another, I can ride my bike indoors since I remain paranoid about riding on the streets. Children occupy a couple of other rooms and the attic space has been magically transformed into a beautiful modern bedroom, where I am laying on a comfortable bed, writing this post.

Space is important to me, but as I watched the man living in less than 100 square feet, I kind of lusted after that lifestyle. The bill of goods we get sold in our country is that the more successful you are, the more home you can afford. This was, of course, the mantra prior to the housing bubble bursting. I am not sure that the obese American is ready to move into tighter spaces, but I imagine that in a decade or so, as I prepare to leave this world behind, a small home, in a beautiful place, might be just about perfect.

Painting takes up a lot of space and I need a lot of space for the paintings I do. Maybe I would need two small homes, one for me and my love and possibly even Beth, the other for creative output.

For now, for the next 3-5 years, we will stay in this house, with all this space, with a couple of the children, and live happily, I am sure. The fence will do their job, Beth will find her outdoor grove again and for a while, this will function as home. For a while home was always where my bike was, then my paintbrushes, then the children and now, home is this big old house, with fences, loud neighbors and the meth boys across the street.