It’s Another Day in Paradise

This title is an homage to my friend Scars. His lifelong crippling pain left him with acerbic humor. I like to think his commentary doubles as a positive affirmation; his spirit is inspirational, for sure.

Meanwhile, our cellar flooded yet again, the most recent of countless events. This time we’re going to remove the oft saturated carpet bits. We should have done it decades ago. The multiple times it’s been pulled up and replaced upon getting professionally dried have left ragged edges.

Our first occurrence happened in spring of 1995 (!) when I didn’t disconnect the garden hose before the previous winter’s freezing temperatures. Turning on the faucet poured water onto the downstairs carpet until I discovered the source of the sound. My father should have taught me this, but alas, no…

This week’s leak came from our furnace humidifier. It started small and my husband changed the filter, which should have ended it but instead made things worse. The serviceman who came out determined that the new filter wasn’t properly seated, disabling proper flow through the pipe system. The money spent wasn’t a total waste; this guy said the water flow was too high and turned it down. My restating this fact finally comforted my husband.

Fortunately, a fan running on high seems to be drying the carpet. Perhaps next month we’ll hire the junk removal service we engaged last year. Those folks will take away all the half empty paint cans, etc., as well as sections of carpet. Everything is reportedly recycled in an appropriate manner or receives proper disposal. I’ve been bagging up obsolete electronics and whatnot.

Can you believe three water heaters failed over the decades, each dumping their entire contents? Isn’t it a silly but fun theory that our home hosts a mischievous water sprite?
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Only Me

This year I supported a Youtube content creator by purchasing his page-a-day calendar about animals. Mamadou Ndiaye’s Casual Geographic clips are both witty and educational.

Dumb me, I bought a 2024 version. I decided not to let this bother me as the snippets remain enjoyable.

 

Do you enjoy nature shows? Is there one particular animal you most appreciate?

Lucky Us

The other day my husband and I foolishly didn’t assess the snow piled at the end of our driveway. I got stuck and we spent perhaps twenty minutes digging/rocking the car out, even adding some fresh cat litter for tire traction. It’s a good thing we left early for his dental appointment.

A neighbor helped me shovel upon our return home. He’s perhaps thirty years old and said he took a pain pill for his back, planning to clear our entire driveway. We convinced otherwise. Our cars can power through several inches, after all.

Interestingly, the young gentleman offhandedly reminded me that the paved portion between sidewalk and street is called an apron in US lingo. I suppose it’s due to tapered ends resembling an apron’s skirt.

Meanwhile more snow fell, as did darkness, and while shoveling gets harder as the years pass, I grew determined to retain passage. Discovering a light powder had fallen I grabbed my shop broom.

Dragging and even pushing light loads proved easier than expected. I proceeded to do the same for several neighbors. One fellow came and helped, shoveling more of my driveway after seeing me. He felt guilt despite the times he’s done the same winters past.

Our area seldom sees more than a few inches of the white stuff or we’d consider purchasing a snow blower. Perhaps we’ll hire a service in future years. I wish our drifts could be air dropped over fires around the world. ~sigh~ At least we’re getting plenty of ground water here.

My mother gifted me this
waterproof fedora
decades ago...
Cool, no?

Do you enjoy seasonal changes? Do you have a favorite? -