Home As Shelter

The heavy rains these last few days in Orlando have caused me to be reminded of the essential use of the home as shelter. The structure provides us with protection from the elements of nature that make us wet, cold, hot, vulnerable to insects and other animals. We need dry safe places to store our food, clothing, books, art, furnishings. These are basic needs- but the home should not insulate us from nature so completely that we lose our connection with it. The need for shelter has morphed into today's modern average home which has grown way beyond the need for shelter into a space that is so artificial as to lead its occupants to do a disconnect from the environment. Many are shut up in their shelters without a clue to the world around them. This causes people to begin to suffer from a sense of isolation and alienation that manifests itself in any number of psychosomatic ills.
The monkey wants shelter, but with a view of water and trees, of birds, butterflies and flowers that remind us of our link to the powerful natural environment that is the source of all that we seek shelter from. There is nothing quite so satisfying as watching a torrential thunderstorm through a big window or porch, safely protected by our home while still being able to marvel at the beauty and power of the weather. Many of us go on vacation to marvel at the splendor of mountains or canyons, of beautiful beaches next to turqoise oceans and then return home to our airtight cages set on top of our chemically treated patch of sod with a tree, some snipped and trimmed bushes and maybe a patch of concrete for a little gas grill. Is it any wonder that we can hardly wait for our next getaway? People would be much happier if they built their homes as if they were little vacation bungalows, endowing their surroundings with as much natural beauty as they would hope to enjoy if they got out of town. I'm working on some drawings of what that might look like - here in subtropical Florida the possibilties are practically endless. Especially if you let your monkey mind loose.