It's a crazy mixed up world these days. Given my predilection for apocalyptic fiction over the last 25 years or so, I began to worry about what was happening fairly ahead of the America curve. I've spoken with numerous friends over the past couple of weeks, and it has been interesting - the progression of feeling like we were talking about something distant, faraway and abstract to death tolls rising and toilet paper becoming a commodity. A few friends have mentioned my recent choice to move to a very rural place as fairly prescient, or at least well-timed. And it's true, I've wanted to live in the country forever...for the beauty and peace and nature absolutely...but also to be removed from a great part of society if the world began to collapse. I'm not sure if the world is truly and utterly collapsing at this moment in time, but it does seem likely that many more people will die; many more people will lose their ability to make a living; many more people's lives will never be the same. I've expressed this thought to a few friends: while most living at the time could still tell you where they were when JFK was shot, or where they were when they heard about/saw the World Trade towers fall, etc....I don't feel like there is as a defining and universal day for the Coronavirus. Is it the first time I heard reports about something weird happening in China? Is it the first time I heard how important it was to wash my hands and not touch my face? My point is, the day will not be the same for all of us. And the day may just keep resetting. Normal. Normal was never the same after 9/11. And yet it was reestablished as a possibility. So, I assume, if this doesn't lead to nuclear war, revolution or a near complete wipeout of the human race, some new normal will replace the one we'd gotten accustomed to. Ha. And then climate change will throw that on its head and so on. At this point I'm almost 100% sure that no one reads this anymore. Ah the hey day of loyal readers...so far and long ago. I guess my not writing anything here for 18 month stretches might also come into play.
Well, in any case. Here are some photos - as always not in chronological order - of the recent goings-on in my life with random captions and perhaps a few more hacky thoughts about the pandemic.
I closed on the house December 20th. Almost immediately it became apparent that something was amiss with my water pressure. The pump when the inspector had come out the month before had been constantly running, which the inspector noted shouldn't be the case. But water came out of the sink at a consistent rate and it was probably just a matter of getting a new pump. Upon purchase, a different problem suddenly appeared: if you tried to turn on the water and let it run for longer than about 30 seconds, the pump would shut off and then no water would becoming into the faucet. I delayed moving into the house by about two weeks and consulted with a cast of characters, each of whom had their own hypothesis of what the issue was. I found my spring box and reservoir up in the woods above my house, next to a creek (folks around here prefer to call this particular form of water a 'branch'). I had a pressure tank put in under my counter, as there wasn't one. This helped in a temporary way, as I could plug in the pump and let it run enough to get water in the tank. Or at least that's how I thought it worked. Regardless. The mystery was that up at the reservoir there would be days where it was full - brimming actually to the level of the overflow pipe. But then a couple of days later it would be nearly empty. This is a concrete rectangle in the ground that I have, in fact, jumped into...I couldn't stand up inside of it, but I'd say it's at least 3.5 feet tall and 6 feet long and its width? Oh maybe 4 feet. My point is that is A LOT of water to go missing if you are one person living in a house where you are taking only sporadic showers and have done laundry less than once every two weeks. It was only two weeks ago that I noticed a strange thing...the drain pipe on one side of my house that I thought was for the gutter above it (not using my language skills well here) had frequently had a puddle surrounding it in previous weeks, but I had assumed that was excess gutter rain water/saturated ground, as this has been an incredibly rainy winter. But one day I noticed there was still a big puddle, even though it hadn't rained in a few days. And then I noticed that there was the tiniest - but steadiest - trickle feeding that puddle from under the porch/deck. Of course I got my headlamp and investigated, and followed the trickle to somewhere under the house on the opposite side. If I turned off the main valve to the house, the trickle dissipated and, within minutes the puddle would dry up. This was a very interesting discovery. Then a few days later my neighbor Randy and his buddy Jamie showed up. They'd actually been investigating what was going on with the water whilst I was in TN for a weekend. Haha..country neighbors talk. In any case, it was at that point that Jamie went under the deck/porch from a different angle and found....this. It's not a great photo, but what it is is a fairly substantial (if hyperbolic) LAKE UNDER MY HOUSE. While we couldn't actually lay eyes on the source, it was clear that some pipe under my house was busted, and every time the pump asked for water from the reservoir, a good majority of that water didn't ever make it into the house.
One of the nice things about my bathroom is the clawfoot tub. I got new shower curtains with birds on them, because of course I did. At some point a few months back, my uncle Ed sent me this magazine, which I began reading while taking a bath and having a glass of wine. Baths for a while were the easier choice over showers, as the water pressure was rarely consistent. Baths now get to go back to being more a matter of luxury and comfort than necessity.
The pond is not a feature I totally love. I mean, this is obviously very pretty, and I do like that I think that the pond does attract more peepers and other aquatic creatures I enjoy seeing - there are a few mini fish in there, definitely a lot of frogs. But it's mucky. The branch/stream that feeds it has been generally steady in its supply, but it's all just very muddy. I think the thing to do would be to try and deepen and narrow the path to the pond and put some kind of reenforcing fauna or rocks along the edges to keep it from devolving again. The pond also has way too much algae, and while it's been cold I haven't worried too much about Birdie, that will change in the summer. I have so many things I need fenced already, and this is definitely not what I'd like to deal with first...but I also don't want my dog to die because she can't stop traipsing through the muck and mire and occasionally actually go chest deep in the pond itself.
Back to the house water saga. So my neighbor across the way, H.C., recommended a plumber for me to try named Rick. Rick came out the morning I was going to leave for TN and I showed him the puddle and recounted all the numerous things others had thought or considered in regards to getting me a consistent, reliable and pressurized source of water inside my house. We agreed that upon my return, he'd really get it all resolved. I'd heard it before, but since the puddle/lake were new data points everyone else hadn't had, I was optimistic. He came back, Randy the neighbor stopped by again and we all agreed on a course of action that would probably resolve the issue. We also discovered that the pipe that burst was the one leading to the outdoor spigot, which was unfortunately placed between my pump box and propane tanks. I said I'd dig down and find the water line so that Rick wouldn't have to bring his backhoe out (saving me $$ and allowing me the fine pleasure of digging/manual labor). And dig I did do.
Random things found in one of my two barns. Or this one is more a shed.
My place is 21 acres in size. Just a tad over really. I've been trying to take daily walks around it just because it's mine and I can. It's strange how it feels like a lot of land and just so little all at the same time. My ratio/percentage skills are terrible, but I'd say maybe its 60% woods and 40% pasture/house/cleared land. Here is a pod I saw while walking in the pasture.
How I looked two weeks ago when I was in Tennessee and prepping to go see Arlo Guthrie perform in a cavern with my dad and two of his friends. This was mood one. I so rarely leave my house or interact with other people, and I'm not one to put on lipstick to go to the grocery store, so I did really try to gussy myself up a little.
On another walk I explored the woods mainly, and found plenty of bones. It was my bones walk.
Spoiler alert, I found the waterline and felt pleased with myself.
The day I bought the house was another lipstick occasion.
See where the woods stops at the top of that hill? That's my woods to the left and down:)
Okay so I complained about the pond, but I do really like the view, even with the phone line in play.
The waterline! Water line?
I have thus stayed strong and still only have the Birdster, but I did visit my friend Joan's puppies for a few weeks when they were still so freakin' tiny. I do keep thinking about whether I should be adopting a dog from the local shelter at this specific moment in time - they are a kill shelter and I imagine this situation has put them in a bad bind. I'd prefer to foster but the shelter doesn't have a foster program. Hm. I should reach out to them and see if there's an emergency foster situation in play.
The pasture from a lovely angle. I fell in love with this area because of its swells. These neverending waves of hills and mountains. And this is my own special swell. It's pretty swell. Har har. This week the big excitement has been that I've noticed horse poop in the pasture that is FRESH. I have no horses or livestock of any kind. Yesterday I saw a few hoof prints in a number of different spots. My theory is that at least a couple of my neighbor Danny's 15+ horses must hop the decrepit old fence line, graze on my land, take a little stroll through the woods, and then hop back over when none of us are watching. It makes me smile, but also I keep thinking maybe I should call him and ask if he's counted all his horses lately.
Closing day lipstick and round face.
The most important part of my visit to TN was going to a storage unit there to FINALLY get my real bed. I'd been sleeping on an air mattress since January and while it tried its best to be up to the challenge of daily use for three months, it lost a certain will to retain air and I was getting quite tired of waking up partially sandwiched by a semi-deflated air mattress. This is Birdie on that air mattress when it was still keeping its shape up.
Mood two.
Mood two for Birdie too.
Nice light on a woods walk.
The house from my driveway. It's pretty cute. I always wanted a slightly larger house with more bedrooms for guests and maybe two levels of porches...but most of those were out of my price range or so damaged/fucked up that I would never have been able to afford the rehab even if I learned how to do a lot of it myself.
This is just a view from elsewhere in the county. I believe that is generally looking west maybe a little northwest.
Ah yes. This is from a drive from Bristol, TN back home. I took a longer/more scenic route (they're all long, and they're all scenic, but this one was free of I-81), and found myself at an elevation where more snow had accumulated than would be evident at my place. Pretty.
More bones from the bones walk.
My 'knob.' It's the highest point on my property. I do one day hope to figure out a way to build a house on this spot, but I've got many, many things I need to do first.
Pond heron. Last week there were THREE of them chilling out around the pond. They flew off as soon as they saw me, but I hope to one day be stealthy enough to take a photo of them before they all fly away.
I recplaced my doorknob, as no one seemed to have a key to the existing lock.
Lichen? Fungi?
One element of the area that I hadn't fully understood/done my due diligence on during my exploratory time here in the fall was just how dominant Christmas tree farms are here. I knew they existed, but I hadn't fully understood the feeling of them slowly taking over valleys that I'm now noticing. And, apparently, they fly giant helicopters over the trees and dump pesticides or other chemicals on them. Obviously that is not really my bag, but compared to the fracking I would have been surrounded by if I had chosen to pursue an affordable spot in PA, I think I just have to accept they exist and, in fact, are neighbors on at least one angle of my property line.
Though I now have a bed, two dressers and three chairs, I'm still working on making this place a functional home. Getting a bunch of my favorite trinkets, doo dads and pieces of art has helped make me feel more settled.
Honestly, if I could do it again I would choose just a slightly less vibrant yellow. I was really just trying to find the same color I had on my walls in Ellensburg, WA...but the three years and a different hardware store led to a slightly more garish color than I had really intended. And of course I just stayed the course even once I began worrying over it. I do not, however, in any way regret this wall paper choice. I may eventually move the dartboard and put a tv there, but maybe not.
Mood three. Weirdly blurry.
So last week, I dug the hole to the waterline and then did much of the digging for the trench to the repositioned outdoor spigot. But not all, Rick definitely got in there too and was far more efficient than I was in getting to the proper depth.
A still living tree in a section of woods I call "Dead Tree Alley."
Just another view of the house and landscape. One thing my neighbor Randy told me lately is that hill beyond my house, with the red bard etc...it's all going to be Christmas trees in the next year or so. This really bums me out. I love this view. Christmas trees are planted in such a regimented manner, I don't know, it just won't be the same.
Two people whose hypothesis about what was wrong with my water was totally wrong.
And that, I guess, wraps up this blog post. I didn't really get into the other line of thought I have about the pandemic. Perhaps I'll do so another day. Hopefully not in six months.
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