Professional and amateur photographers alike avoid publishing pictures that contain reflections of themselves. For them, the lens must capture what is meant to be seen, not the one who is behind the lens. It is a silent way to control perceived reality. On the other hand, painters often do self portraits to chronicle changes to themselves over the course of time, especially in the Autumn of their years. – It is a necessary surrender to reality.
The featured picture at the top of today’s post crosses the line separating the photographer and artist who reside within me. The reason is quite clear. I am a part of the picture. What is happening in the picture is happening to me and to Serendipity Farmhouse. – This is an unavoidable reality.
Older houses and older people deteriorate over time. SFH is an older house and it was bought “as is”. Blondie and I have done our best to restore SFH and conduct preventive maintenance, but we are well aware that new problems will emerge when and where least expected. If you recall, last December we spent $3,800.00 for plumbing repairs due to leaks in the water line from the pump house to the main house. (See SFH Journal: 2020-12-17 through 12-28 – Whew!.)
The picture above shows water bubbling up from under our front walkway. The sand around and beneath the bricks is being washed away. This has been going on for almost a week. Due to the nature of the current economy and supply chain problems, a plumber won’t be available to assess the problem until this coming Tuesday. Our guess is that the water is coming from the water line that runs from the well pump to the well house. We still have running water in the house to serve our needs, but the damage to the walkway mounts daily. – This is an unavoidable reality.
I must confess that this and a number of other “unavoidable realities” caused the author to have a relatively serious meltdown earlier this week. I have since collected myself, apologized to Blondie and Mr. Monte, and worked at restoring “peace” within myself.
It is poor form to blame one’s problems on others. For example, there is no way I can blame the SFH water leak on any one individual. This is an old farmhouse, it was bound to happen someday. There are some things, however, that we would like to blame on certain individuals, and perhaps rightly so. But I believe that there is really nothing to be gained by doing that. Nevertheless, these days we are experiencing a global pandemic of what I call “COVidiocy”. It is spreading rapidly and has many variants. One of its more serious variants manifested itself on September 9th. (See for yourself here.) Over the last month, I have developed several symptoms inflicted by that particular form of COVidiocy. If no treatment becomes available soon, it appears that I may suffer permanently from the effects of this disease. – This is an unavoidable reality.
We here at SFH have hidden strength and resilience that enables us to weather any storm. We know that we will always come through the problems that beset us – there is always a sunny day after the storm. For example, it rained yesterday and the wind from the storm knocked down hundreds of black walnuts. They will have to be cleared away. But that’s no problem for Blondie and me. Isn’t that why we invented the game of Walnut Whacking?
And surely, life can’t be quite so bad and the future can’t be quite so dark, when during the midst of the storm, a truck pulls up and delivers a cord of firewood. This wood will keep us warm during the cold of the coming Winter. – And so it is with God’s grace, it will always be there, even when we are lost in Dark Autumn Reflections. – There’s always a sunny day after the storm when you surrender to the realities of the life God gives you.
SFH Gardens – By the Numbers
The following links will catch you up with what has been planted, harvested, and preserved since our last Journal post:
SFH WX Station Report – Weekly:
SFH WX 2021-10-11 through 10-17
Covidiocy,abounds everywhere!
I just bought an “as is” house. I was just so tired of running around every day looking at properties and it fit my numerous criteria. Just to give a hint on
what one might expect: load bearing at the back- foundation work needed because prior owner built a basement
without shoring it up. Two days work.
There’s more but why reveal one’s lack of
home buying knowledge?