Friday, December 12, 2008

Listening to the Rhythm of the Falling Rain. . .in a Whole New Way!

I love rain. I especially love sitting in my upstairs den and listening to the rain hit the skylight and echo in the chimney as I sit by a nice warm fire, ideally with J and the dogs nearby. That is exactly what I was doing last night when, from my perch on the couch with Amos the dog, I started to hear yet another rhythmic sound. It didn't take long for the origin of this new sound to occur to me.

"Uh oh," I said to J, who was finally getting around to writing a new post for his blog.

"What do you mean, 'uh oh?,'" J replied.

"I mean this," said I, as I pointed to the ceiling, which looked like this. . .



. . . except that last night there was water dripping through the seam that had just opened up (toward the bottom of the photograph, between the water stain and the attic hatch). The water hitting the marble-top table just underneath that seam was the new rhythm of the falling rain that I had just discerned, much to my disappointment.

J and I, both being resourceful individuals, quickly located and brought upstairs a ladder and a bucket, and J was able to place the bucket under the leak, which luckily was reachable through our small attic space. Our solution looked like this:



Eventually the drip through the den ceiling subsided, as J and I enjoyed the rest of our evening by the fire secure in the knowledge that we had done everything within our power at 9:30 p.m. on a Thursday to contain the leak. Eventually we went to bed, listening to the non-stop pouring rain and hoping that our little blue bucket would be large enough to contain the overnight leakage.

Seeing my attic for the first time in many years inspired quite an exciting dream last night. I dreamt that, unbeknownst to me, I had a whole top story consisting of two bedrooms, a bathroom, and small kitchenette area. To top that all off, there was a door at the back of the third story that opened outdoors onto a staircase leading to a grassy backyard, complete with a garage! The newly found elements of my property were in pretty rough shape, and there was a squatter living in the attic who I had to toss, gently but firmly. (And to think -- all this time I thought that all that bustling I continually hear overhead was just squirrels!) Just as I was contemplating big plans for my newly-discovered third story (can you say mega master suite?) and reveling in the fact that I had a decent-sized yard with off-street parking (in real life, of course, I have neither), I awoke to the sound of Lincoln the cat throwing up on the bedroom floor.

After we (in this case really meaning J) had dealt with the cat mess, J and I were thrilled to discover that the bucket indeed had provided sufficient damage control overnight. However, I must confess that I was crestfallen to find that the attic still looked like this. . .



. . . instead of the spacious fixer-upper of my dreams. I pretty much figured it would still just be the same old meager attic that I had seen the night before, but you can't blame a girl for checking to make sure, can you?

Now I'm off to call an assortment of Capitol Hill roofers. Wish me luck, and sunny skies, until some roofer can find time to show up and hopefully provide a better fix than the blue bucket.

10 comments:

Merle Sneed said...

If I was there I could fix it for you. I did a stint as a roofer years ago.

A Concerned Citizen said...

Ah, Merle! Thanks for that. Knowing what a good person you are, you'd probably even try to fix it for free. (: )

tut-tut said...

I think Merle could fix just about anything, really.

Maybe the leak was a fluke; were there especially high winds accompanying the rain?

A Concerned Citizen said...

Tut-tut, I meant to say this before, but I am so happy you have started commenting. I've always enjoyed reading your comments over at Reya's. Re your question, there was some wind, but the big thing that set this storm apart was that it was an unusually intense amount rain over an unusually long time. My neighbor just was on his roof and said that mine needed some maintenance, but I certainly didn't expect this. Hopefully I'll get it straightened out next week -- all the roofers are booked until Tuesday.

Tess Kincaid said...

Uh oh, is right! Yikes. That's what happened to us after we had a new roof put on and the roofing company was no where to be found to own up to their problem. Finally got the leak fixed and had to totally gut the bat cave.

Barbara said...

Kudos to you and J for being so resourceful. We are totally inept at making any sort of house problem diagnosis or repair. It's a good thing we both knew another way to earn money...

I just had lunch and a museum visit with MS, a friend of yours from your Cemetery. We talked about how smart you are and both wish you well in your job hunt!

Reya Mellicker said...

This is hilarious!

Oh man ... does your attic still look like this?

GREAT dream - you've discovered new realms inner and outer, verdant gardens and a whole apartment you never knew about. Connecting with other lifetimes can feel just like this. Bravo!

Angela said...

My dreams are just as vivid and like real life as yours! Once in a while I dream that I can fly, just about two to ten metres above the ground. In my dream somebody said this is not possible, and I gave that some thought, but then I just jumped up a little, waved my arms, and off I flew again. I love this feeling. Only to wake up again and find I can`t. But maybe it is just a matter of firm believing?? If you firmly believed that your attic looked like you had imagined it ...?!!
You always write so nice posts!

Anonymous said...

I frequently dream about previously undiscovered rooms in my home. Supposedly it represents aspects of yourself that you have not yet fully explored. And, like you, I always wake up disappointed to realize that the extra 2000 sq. feet of space is not actually there!

Anonymous said...

Oh, and I'm not really anonymous, I'm Audrey.