THE GREAT FLOOD OF ’18, PART 1

Okay – Yes. I’ve been away from this blog for several days. Problems arose, and the muse is only now ready to talk about it.

When Mike and I, with the blessing of our children, decided to rehabilitate my grandparents’ farmhouse, some friends and family thought it was a big mistake, but we decided to do it for a variety of reasons, including:

1)   A beautiful, peaceful location

2)   A “togetherness” project for our retirement years

3)   Preservation of heritage

4)   An opportunity to be stewards of the land

So, beginning in 1998, we pressed ahead, and we have loved working together “for better or for worse,” and this last week we had a dose of “for worse.” We built creature comforts into our house, running water for one ...

Living room into dining room

. . . and while we were looking the other way, the water ran, and ran, and ran. Long story short, a leak occurred, apparently at the shower faucet in the master bath, and the walls through the central part of the house are soaked. Grandma Ina’s hardwood floors (dining and living rooms) are ruined. Kitchen cabinets are damaged. The full extent of the damage has yet to be assessed.

The daffodils are undaunted by the problems of the day.

We found this problem on Wednesday (April 26), and our first reaction was guilt and devastation. Mike made an initial call to our insurance company, but he and I agreed that we would have to find good help. I began to silently express my gratitude for lasting values. This debacle was unexpected but not insurmountable, and we can both deal with it. We worked hard to clean up what water we could, and then we closed the door on the farmhouse and drove back to town. Tomorrow would be another day. KW