Blessings of HOME

 

We received the news late last week that we had tentatively been approved to do all the work required to prepare our High River lot to receive our home. It had been an incredibly long and stressful road to get to that point, with countless engineering drawing and plans being submitted and resubmitted. All we needed to do was go in on Tuesday, yesterday, and sign the development agreement.

So now we have construction dates, permits to proceed, and a clear path to being able to start moving into our SEED Home in downtown High River. 

Heather had reached out to arrange a traditional land blessing which happened on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. The wind died down at just the right time to allow Brenda to light the sweetgrass and begin the smudging. She sang a traditional Blackfoot song and invited us to offer tobacco. We were joined by David, the local United Church minister, and Brenda's dad, for the ceremony. Lovely people and such a blessing that they were able to join us on this magical day. 

What we know for sure is that the deep services work will begin on Monday morning and continue for a couple of days. Once the contractor has tied into the the sewer and water mains, the holes in the street and sidewalk will be filled up and repaired. The same contractor will continue with the trenching required on the land, allowing sewer and water services to go from the property line to the two buildings that will be placed on our lot: the house and Birdsong Studio 3.0. 

While we are waiting for two specific documents to get the green light on the installation of the engineered screw piles and the home, that work will likely start shortly after the deep services work has been completed. Our plan is to set up my phone on a tripod and capture the home installation and unfolding as a time lapse video. There is a tremendous interest in SEED Homes from jurisdictions from around the world and the opportunity to share the "unfolding" is just too good to pass up.

We are grateful to Nilendu at the Town of High River. He been the guy in the planning department who has been walking with us through this journey that began some eight months ago. He was there as Heather and I signed the final documents yesterday. We are equally grateful to the local councillors who advocated on our behalf when it felt like the process was moving at a snail's pace. Without the SEED Homes team we would have been completely buried alive by the permitting process. They picked up that football and took it to the end zone - with apologies for the poorly placed sports metaphor.  We are grateful to Ruth and Hugh for allowing us to stay in their Okotoks home while they are away on vacation. Being closer to our High River lot during this time has made a world of difference. Finally, we are grateful to family who have allowed us to stay with them for weeks at a time, and offered to watch our dogs while we get set up in High River. 

If all goes well, we will be looking to get our occupancy permit in the final week of November.