Order! Order in the Courts

6 weeks ago I walked into my house at the end of a full, busy Tuesday office day. I heard something unusual, something I did not want to believe. Water. Dripping. A lot.

Some time during the day, a leak had developed in an upstairs bathroom. A tank had been draining, then re-filling, then draining. For how long, we don't really know, only that it began after we left for work that day, and was still in process at 5:30 that afternoon. It took only a matter of minutes to diagnose the problem, locate the source, and stop the water. A few more minutes to assess the apparent damage: which turned out to include both upstairs baths, carpet in the hallway and one bedroom; kitchen cabinets, ceiling and a wall; and a basement bedroom wall, ceiling and carpet. In short, the central core of our house was going to need some drying out.

And, ultimately, repairs. Now, 6 weeks later, we have our baths back, but are just getting started on the kitchen. The basement bedroom might be pretty low priority at any other time of the year. But with four grown children coming home for Thanksgiving, the clock is ticking even on that space.

It's a heck of a condition to be in to celebrate my 55th birthday this week! But I have had many occasions since "the flood" to be reminded that what my Karen and I are experiencing are only inconveniences. Two of our friends have had serious, life-threatening illnesses surface. A woman from my choir collapsed and died - quickly and unexpectedly -  a couple of weeks ago. The choir sang her service one week ago (beautifully; Virgil Thomson's "My shepherd will supply my need"). My biggest problem is not remembering where I put things, since all my usual drop-points have changed!

So, to celebrate an unexpected and completely unimportant mid-life crisis, Here's a shout out Happy Birthday to me!