The Golan Home

Basam met me at the house yesterday when I came to see how work was progressing. We climbed up to the “second floor” - standing on the frame work for the ground floor ceiling.

The air was nice and cool at the end of a hot and sticky day. The sun was setting, a light breeze was blowing. It was easy to imagine that immense second floor balcony this time next year, lounging there at the end of the day, drinking a cold beer – Omri running around, Gali at my side, Tallulah stretching out.

Paradise.

Within our grasp.

There is something magical about this process. Work on the first floor ceiling started Sunday over the bedrooms area. When I walked into that part of the house this afternoon, it felt so much more – complete? Materialized? I can’t find the word to describe it, and the photos don’t do it justice, don’t convey the feeling you get when walking in there.

Clearer, perhaps better describes the feeling. Even though progress is in single steps, and I’m there at every step, somehow you get not just a better sense of the house at every stage, but also a deeper sense of it too.

With the wood “ceiling” above my head, it was just, more obvious.

Anyway, the living quarters is covered with wood in preparation for pouring in cement. Tall beams around the house rise to the height of the second floor railing, stairs to the second floor are under construction.

The wood frames where the columns were poured have been removed, as were the iron fixtures that held the basement ceiling when it was built.

The house is shaping up, and this is how it looked from the outside today:

I stood out at the street looking at this now big structure and thought to myself in surprise, “wow, I’m doing this thing. It’s my own doing.” What a project.

I found myself at the local committee Sharonim again this morning. This time to pick up a Form 2. It’s needed in order to electricity hooked up, together with the building permit and house plans.

I forgot what a zoo it was. I got there 15 minutes before the doors open – it was quiet and calm. But at 8:30, when we were let in, people rushed and shoved, others demanding to be let in first. Odd.

Anyway, not simple to get the form. You have to fill out a request and submit it, then they send an inspector to the construction site to ensure that it is properly fenced (!) and only then you get the form…

What a waste