La Casa Chica: One in Food, One in Life

You have found your way to the virtual front stoop of "La Casa Chica," a fitting name for the kind of home I am wanting to create. I hope it will contribute to the growing sense of connection and belonging here in my Central-Cocoanut neighborhood, in the Newtown community of Sarasota, Florida.

La Casa Chica is "the little house," modest in size relative to the other houses on the block and in the neighborhoood.

La Casa Chica is "the enchanted house," with its 1920's Spanish eclectic architecture, its emerging tradition of front-stoop and kitchen conversation, and its resident puppy, Gus.

La Casa Chica is "the home of the beloved child," brought to life through the everyday presence of neighborkids, whose natural inclinations to be social and exuberant generate the special, neighborly spirit of the place.

La Casa Chica is a reclaiming of the legitimate role and relationship of neighbor, which is often less recognized than that of family or professional, but can be powerful and transformative nonetheless.

If Jane Addams were to drop by, I hope that she might recognize La Casa Chica as Hull House reinvented, a century later...

If Jane Jacobs were to drop by, I hope that she might recognize La Casa Chica as an effort to get beyond "the mask of pretended order" that is affecting our community, and to nurture the "real order that is struggling to exist."

If Donald Winnicott were to drop by, I hope that he might recognize La Casa Chica as a place where neighbors choose to get together "to do the things which you can do better than you can be taught to do them."

And if Timothy Leary were to drop by, I hope that he might recognize La Casa Chica as an everyday, real-world, neighborhood-scale embracing of his notion that "the universe is an intelligence test."

But mostly, I hope that my neighbors will drop by.

I am ready to be a neighbor.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

One in Food, One in Life

Tonight there was a knock at the door and then...surprise! The D's brought me a plate for dinner! Their mom, Ms. Donna, made mac & cheese (my all-time favorite), baked ham, mashed potatoes, and apple pie for dessert. Yum, what a special treat! Neighbors have come to know two things about me: I love to eat, and I'm not much of a cook (though I'm determined to learn!)

Wow, it means a lot to know that neighbors keep me in mind, sharing homemade dinner and other good stuff. There is a saying: "Those who are one in food are one in life." Yep, I'd say so.

La Casa Chica

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Sunday, August 8, 2010

One in Food, One in Life

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