Day 116

We had some help this weekend from an unexpected place. Last Friday I stopped in at Brian MacKay-Lyons’s office in Halifax to catch up with my old bosses and give a presentation on the artspace over a few beers. The office has really densified over the past couple of years – it looked to me like there were about 15 employees, crammed in every available space, and a whole new menagerie of gorgeous wood models on display. The presentation went well --people seemed excited about what we’re doing and Brian had some kind things to say about the design.

Anyhow, it turns out that Matt, briefly my coworker at Busby Perkins + Will in Vancouver, now works for Brian. After the presentation he told me that he wanted to learn the delicate and zen-like art of shingling. With my grateful blessing, he decided to drive down early Saturday morning and work here for two days. At 8:00 AM on Saturday, Matt called from Antigonish (about 90 minutes from here), where the season’s first snowstorm was in full swing. ‘The driving’s pretty bad here. Everyone’s pulled off the road…Should I keep going?’ I told him that things looked great in our backyard. It was a calm, clear day so far. He elected to soldier on. But when he arrived, the gods got angry.

We managed to work for about two hours, cowering on the high scaffolding, with the winds and snow whipping around our ears and throwing loose shingles across the valley. Then we packed it in. We spent the rest of the day talking stereo electronics and holding a music listening party on our laptops. (Matt is now a fan of the Chills, The Clipse, Dean & Britta, Field Music, and Chad VanGaalen.) Sunday morning the weather was even worse, so we made some farewell scrambled eggs and he headed back to Halifax at 10:00 in the morning to try and salvage the remnants of his weekend.

- Geoff