Shea visited the house under renovation again today when he was out and about. To my glee, the three sliding doors went in, as well as a lot of the windows.

After very frustrating delays, we swung by the house under renovation when a neighbor advised us that they were putting windows up finally, which includes sliders. I’m so relieved. Some of these pictures I took by putting my camera over the fence and had to look at them afterwards. Even the half circle above the front door is installed!

I continue my painting projects inspired by many DYI and upthrifting Youtube videos I’ve been binging. I love thrift store purchases and some of the haul I’ve gotten from Facebook Marketplace, but I’m also glad I didn’t discard every fire-damaged item. Many items I’m spray painting are damaged from that terrible day. There are many things when I look back at the fire damage pictures that I regret not pulling out of the debris pile on my driveway and from the soot-covered insides of the house, but I was living in a fog at that period.

The few things that survived the fire, even if they were in the backyard , often had lots of paint damage to them. A fresh coat of paint helps a bit, although I might redo some of the colors. The red is a little too bright for some of these objects.

Yes, I know this blog title is a corny Michael Jackson song, but after what I’ve been through this year, indulge me for a moment, as this is quite the saga. I always stress that NO material thing matters nearly as much as the five precious souls I lost with my dogs taken from me that day. Still, through some miraculous connections, a bit of my heart (I’m sure my siblings would agree) was restored today when a hand-carved (or is it?) piece of furniture that I mistakenly thought was one-of-a-kind was delivered from Warsaw, Poland, of all places.

The original piece, which my parents bought when we lived in rural Catalonia, Spain (my dad was in the United States Coast Guard and was stationed there in the mid-1970s), was transported with our military moves, in the normal course, from Spain to New York and then to California, where my parents retired. In 2016, it survived my mom’s house fire and was professionally cleaned. After my mom died later that year, I kept the piece, which my siblings did not want, only for it to get pretty incinerated in my own house fire this past January 18.

At first in the chaos of my soot-laden wrecked home, I had it in the junk pile on my driveway, but it meant so much to me. The damage seemed somewhat superficial, so someone convinced me that I could have it professionally “cleaned” again and/or repainted. Unfortunately, it came back even after being treated still smelling of fire, so I’m storing it in the rental house’s garage for now. I was frustrated by the daunting task of having it professionally restored to what it looked like in the pictures. I was ambivalent about whether it would be worthwhile.

On a whim, I posted it on social media, and a friend of mine who I used to swoon over regularly on the subway when I saw him during our commute years ago when I lived in New York chimed in and said he found a replica for sale in Warsaw, complete with the Polish language e-commerce link. I contacted the seller, who spoke no English. With the assistance of a translator website, I explained my unique interest. I was pleasantly surprised that it was selling for only 1,000 PLN, which amounted to about US$255. I knew the challenge would be shipping. I asked him if he would ship to California and he said he would not. I think he was only looking to ship within Europe.

Periodically, over the last several months, I would check the Polish site. It continued to be on sale, which blew my mind, but I’m sure it’s a niche market. Several weeks ago it occurred to me, after a few false starts with distant connections to Poland, that I had some of the people on my annual holiday card email list who I have been in touch with for years who are Poles. So on another whim, I wrote an email to all of them with the the before and after pictures and the Polish e-commerce link. I think there were 19 who had working emails, and one of them who I’ve had a reciprocal crush on since at least 2008 replied. His English is excellent because he lived in the UK for a while, so he was a perfect candidate, especially because he also lived in Warsaw.

At first, my handsome cub friend Artur suggested that if the seller was unwilling to ship it to California, I could have it shipped to his house and then he would facilitate shipping it to me. It turns out, that by having him communicate on my behalf, and after securing a quote for shipping that I obtained from DHL at his suggestion, the seller agreed to let it be picked up from his location. Artur, who I’ve never even met, even took care of the Polish customs paperwork for me! It was then purportedly en route! I could hardly believe I was able to track the progress online. I remained on pins and needles, thinking it would take months, but spending US$717 to ship it was enough to get it here in under two weeks. It arrived today, just in the nick of time, because Shea and I are getting on a plane to Hawaii tomorrow morning. To my glee, I didn’t even have to make arrangements for it to be brought inside from the pouring rain.

It’s now safe and sound in my rental and will be ready to transport to my home months from now when my house is ready. I want to take some pictures of the two cabinets side by side at some point. I’m also still contemplating what I should do with the original. I might use it for gardening supply storage outside if I can avoid it getting water-damaged. That way any remaining smell will hopefully diminish, but I’ll still have it on the premises and can tell this story. It will make a fine storage cabinet, as long as I don’t let it succumb to the elements in my mild climate here in the San Francisco Bay Area.

So for under a thousand dollars, I have a beautiful nostalgic piece in excellent shape to look at, together with the two very similar tapestries that my siblings and I had growing up. For the rest of my life I’ll be able to enjoy the memories that pieces bring me, even if they are facsimiles of the originals and they are pieces I would not have bought if I just saw them in a store myself.

As for what I’m putting in the new cabinet, I think I’ll start with the ashes of the beloved five dogs who I lost that day.

Thanks Patrick Sheehan! The Filipino traditional dance tapestry that my parents had bought when we lived in Spain in the 1970’s has arrived. The original one with the blue background survived my mom’s fire in 2016 and was then professionally cleaned. However, it was then incinerated in my fire in January. Now it is officially replaced thanks to Patrick’s efforts in finding this redder, reflective version. It’s still very nostalgic for my siblings and me. The fact that I have a Filipino partner now makes it even more cool. The pictures below demonstrate what it looked like with my cathedral ceiling before the fire. When my house is renovated and I move home I intend to replace it with this new one and uplight it with my smart home at sunset every day like I used to do. It was really cool to look up and see this when one walked into the foyer, even though it was nerve-wracking getting that high on a ladder to hang it.