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Wednesday, November 4, 2015

IF A TREE FALLS........DOES THE #OOAKX15 HEAR IT?

HAPPY HUMP DAY!
Well......now it's 22 days until the One of a Kind Show!!!!
( #OOAKX15 )

As I keep mentioning.......basically I am in "ART LOCK DOWN"......
It's been very very fruitful........I have completed a LOT of new work! 
In fact, I am so committed to having my best show ever at #OOAKX15 that I had to keep working the last few days.....both without water and power in my studio!!
I KID YOU NOT!
You see, a very very old tree......on my neighbours yard...........decided to just give up.

this bad boy -- that is twice the size of the houses.......
Not due to wind....not because of an ice storm....the mighty oak just was #OverIt !!!!
It fell.....now let me tell you how it happened.....
PICTURE IT. 
7pm. 
Toronto.
My husband and I were sitting in our front room, talking about how our days went. 
You know.....I complained about my horrible boss, and my irritating co-workers......and he shook his head.....secretly worried that I ACTUALLY BELIEVED that I had these people in my life....
ANYWAYS.......Suddenly there was this rumbling.......I thought at first it was the GO train.....
But it got louder and louder and then the house SHOOK.....not unlike this......
( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7oWUAZzQPg )
We both jolted off the sofa and looked out our front door to see this:

Yes.....on garbage night we put our green bin with
3 bungee cords on our porch to keep out the raccoons!
What of it!??
YIKES!

IT WAS A SHOCK! 
We couldn't get out of our house. Because there was a tree in our front yard.
It took out the hydro lines! (Obvi)
So we called 311.
The city was FAST!!!
REALLY REALLY FAST.....within 20 minutes they were out with hydro to access the damage.
I was pleasantly surprised!!!!
After a couple hours, all the downed electrical wire was off, and I was able to get a better view of the damage.....
The poor tree split in half....... half over the road.....


The other half on the front lawn.
I was thrilled that it missed out house!!!! 
.....or so I thought...........


It took a team of 10 guys, and many hydro people to get us back to "normal".....
The chainsawing was AMAZING......




I decided that a little lack of light was NOT gonna stop me from working!!!
I can't afford ago take time off from my show preparations!
(at which point my husband thought I had actually LOST IT!)


YES. 
Painting by candlelight. 
THAT is my level of commitment to The One of a Kind Show!!!!
Honestly, I felt like, I need to keep my eye on the prize.....
THAT.....and my boss is a B**CH.....have I mentioned that?



As you can imagine, the chainsawing until 1am made it impossible to sleep.
That, and the adrenaline....oh......AND the bag of left-over Halloween chocolate I stress-ate!
In the light of day......it told a rather disheartening story.....
I guess it DID hit our roof......
....then our porch.......
....before finally coming to rest on our lawn.
In it's trip from sky to ground it took out the hydro, and slammed so hard on the ground it ruptured a water line........


It meant we were without water AND power for a lot of the next day...
Now I know what you are thinking......
.....surely Rob, THIS this is an excuse to stop working.....
NOPE.....I moved OUTSIDE to work.....thankfully it was a beautiful warm day.......
12 of my brand new pieces are ready to go!!!
By 6pm, everything was back to "normal" and I was able to get back down to my studio.
WHAT A 24hrs!!!
SO......I want to say this......

1.) I am grateful (and shocked) that nobody was killed and that our house and our neighbour's houses 
     were not destroyed by that tree?  Really really grateful. Would I have liked it to have NOT 
     happened? YES!!!

2.) I am grateful that the 311 and Hydro people worked so hard and so late. It was most appreciated!

3.) I am feeling gratitude that I do what I love, and live in a nice house, in a nice tree lined    
     neighbourhood. (Despite this freak incident!) Let's face it......doing what you love can be a great 
     distraction from destruction around you!

SO.......YOU need to come out and see what I am working this hard on! 
The fruits of my 'single focussed' labour!!
THE reason I have been working from 8am-9pm each day....is fast approaching......
Come see what all the fuss is about!


The end.
;-)



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