The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

RAIN RANT
Despite any feelings of despondency regarding our four month hate-affair with our failed drain field, I am, by nature, someone who tries to look at the positive side of life. So I have to save the Good for last…because you should end on a positive note, don’t you think so?

The Bad

I thought I’d take this opportunity to vent while I am sane. Or am I? Sane, that is. As our collective mental health teeters on a fulcrum, mood dependent on the amount of rainfall we are predicted to receive, I wonder more and more if we’d be better off living in a city. With sewers. Or a septic system with no trees in sight. With dependable Internet connections. With pizza delivery. No mud.

But wait…most people get rain and many get snow. So why am I bitching? We all love living out in the country, seeing the wildlife, not having neighbors…………. But everyday life at Squirrel Head Manor has changed since December with the abnormal amounts of rain we’ve received.

I do believe the family is slowly turning feral as a result of this rain…why? Because it’s modified our behavior…we have all quite gradually changed our habits about bathing, using the bathroom, washing dishes…it has been gradual and now…we are all just sooo tired of it.


The cause is the rain.
The consequence of the rain is our drain field and septic system is IN the water table. Yes, a ten foot deep drain field currently has eight feet of water in it.
The result of this is….we can not have a new drain field put in and use the toilet or wash dishes like an average person does until the ground dries out.

Guess what – it’s raining again today! I just don’t know if there is enough Irish whiskey in this house.


The Ugly
I used to wash my hair every three days but these days, once day 4 passes, I am pulling it back in a ponytail. Every so often we come to work on weekends where, thankfully, there are showers, and I can stand and luxuriate in hot water…not worrying about pine root debris, mud and actual shit coming up in our downstairs bathtub.


Many nights I do dishes like we are camping. Filling a giant tub with hot water and Dawn. I use a scant amount of water to rinse the dishes and when I’m done, this tub of “gray water” gets hauled down the driveway to be tossed in a ditch. Dishes pile up so it’s “worth our while” to use the water and, ultimately, have the septic tank spew up what it can not contain.

The downstairs bathroom is virtually unusable. We all have to shower in the remaining bathroom upstairs and by the time we are finished showering, a pool of water has erupted from the septic tank which is near the backdoor. It creeps ominously close to the house and stinks like…well…shit.


But all we can do is wait until the ground dries up a bit so digging can commence. And what is uglier than the physical mess, the results of black water pushing up from the ground, is the price of an above-ground drain field. More than double what one would cost in-ground. And there is a pump too….because gray and black water will not naturally head north into a mounded drain field. Grrrrrr…


Okay…rant over (verbally anyway) and I have to end on a Good note. Call me Polly-freakin-Anna….


Here are photos I have in my Around The House folder…some are obviously from months ago when the flowers were in bloom. And this is what we like about living where we are…it’s generally peaceful.

Back yard.........



Where we sometimes see deer.........



Bear Crossing.......I have not seen one but have heard stories...


That sign is down the road....where Kobe is looking...



Birds, rabbits and lizards.........



Birds and squirrels hop in the bird bath.......


Flowers........



And I don’t think anyone in our household really wants to leave ..….all we want is a working sewage system. But I wouldn't say no to a gas stove and an island in the kitchen :-)

So, there ya go…I am still capable of rational thought and consideration of choices. If you stuck with the rant this long, thank you for listening :-)

Recipes coming up..............