The Forest speaks

The Forest says, " I will produce for YOU, lumber, particle board, veneer, OSB. I will do this efficiently and without waste. But we reply clearly that we would be plumb happy to have all that product, but only 2"x6"x8' long or in 4'x8' sheets? Thank you. Oh, and there will be lots of waste because we need your dimensions to square with what the culture needs, and what the culture needs is uniformity. And could you make that the same for the next level year thank you. And so on and so on. We are centered on a code after all and the code must be followed.

Dan Phillips, designer/builder, shares insights into the origins of the future we are now facing, and it is ecologically threatening but fascinatingly hopeful. He explains that the waste from the building industry today is filling our landfills and fueling our burn piles because current models of structure are predicated on being plumb, level, squared and centered. This TED video hacked my brain, knocked it off kilter, and helped me appreciate a new imperfect way of building.

In this video you will see about a dozen of Dan's incredible, affordable, up-cycled homes. I love the humorous Budweiser home with Dan's ingenious use of tile using porcelain shards from old toilets to mimic a bubbly head of foam on the shower wall. He glibly refers to the bulges, warps, and pokes in the houses he designs, saying, " If that ruins your life, you shouldn't live here."

Makes me feel really nice about Panther Creek Cottage.
What I considered a little crooked just might be character.
And I'm plumb happy about that.