May 20th 2017
North Key Ranch
Hiding from the Sun
Last year the boys and I were finishing up the addition of a nice little porch on the front of North Key Suites when a friend I hadn't met yet, walked up. She was a little thing with a big smile and an intriguing sparkle in her eyes. She was flanked by her daughter and son in law and for some extra muscle she had brought along her 4 year old grandson. She walked up to my white picket fence and asked the boys if Toby was here. I gave her the customary reply of "maybe". It's good to do that. If they're cool, they will smile and play along. If they come back with some uptight remark, well, we probably don't want that job anyways. Fortunately, she smiled and played right along. That's how Miss Brenda and the Happy Yellow House became a part of my Utobia. Now to be straight with ya from the start, her house is crooked. Admittedly, I had been stalking it for years. I had done my share of slow speed drive by's and sometimes I would park in its drive and just stare at it, envisioning the possibilities, but accepting that one wooden mistress is enough.
Unfortunately, after waiting 90 years for some love, this house looked beat down and tired, with a precarious lean to the right and back. Actually, about 6 inches to the right from rim joist to roof with a nice 4 inch twist to its back side. But still, the potential was there.
Miss Brenda saw it too. She said "Don't make it perfect". She appreciated that the house had some funk in its junk and that it should just be as it is. Miss Brenda took me through the entire 900 square feet in under two minutes, pausing only so I could duck my head to clear the bottom of the stairway, located between the kitchen and living room. She was doing that infectious, sparkly eyed, beaming with happiness thing that she does. She smiled just like one of those antique hunters that finds a great, little, quirky, knick knack in a shop downtown, however,
she had found a whole, entire, quirky, knick knack of a house. Plans were drawn up and quickly passed through our local historic district review board.
Permit issued, materials delivered, the boys and I popped in some French doors and built Miss Brenda a nice porch on the front of her Happy Yellow House. Taking our time, we cut and fit every joist as dictated by the uneven front wall.
With the facelift complete, the front elevation looks like a straight and level porch on a very unstraight and unlevel house. Miss Brenda was thrilled with the transformation so life continues to be all good in the hood.
It's interesting how things work out sometimes. The Crooked Yellow house sat on the market for years, patiently waiting on a buyer. Miss Brenda came along and envisioned what could be, instead of what is. Even though the house is far from perfect, that's what she finds so perfect about it. So many opportunities in life are just about ones perspective. My hope is that Miss Brenda and her Happy Yellow House will inspire you to do a little porch sitting of your own. Get what ya got to go get to get your head right. Then, take a moment to find some happiness and acceptance in the things that may not be perfect in your world. Make an effort to make things better if you can, and find satisfaction in excepting that sometimes.....it just is what it is.
Thanks for your time.
Toby Turner