All Fogged Up

Late yesterday, a fog rolled in, and lingered until after dark. I love how it cloaks familiar scenes and mysteriously transforms how everything looks and sounds. It gives new perspective - something I've seriously needed these last few days.

House repairs have been a source of frustration for me since the raccoon incident (parts one, two and three). In the days following the chaos, the insurance company's contractor has been out to start repairs to the interior. This involved cutting a rectangular hole out of approximately one third of my bedroom ceiling and a similar, though smaller opening at the top of my wall. Once they had access to the interior of the attic, Manuel and his crew filled a dozen large bags with broken stucco ceiling, drywall and soggy insulation. A makeshift plastic wrap funnel was designed to transport any further rain water or melting snow down through the hole in my ceiling and into a bucket on the floor. Plastic was taped beneath the hole, allowing for the funnel to pass through it. Then three enormous pieces of equipment were placed beneath the work, and left there to run for as many days. One was a dehumidifier. Its hose was taped to my carpet, following a path to the bathroom so that it could drain into the sink. The other two machines were over-sized fans - one of which was aimed at the wall, and the other at the ceiling, in an attempt to dry them out for further repair. This would have been more logical if the roof had already been repaired, or at least patched, and if we weren't going to encounter more rain or snow in the following weeks. But that was not to be.

The interior crew - Manuel and the boys were bright, kind and humorous people who helped put my mind at ease despite the lengthy repair time that was becoming evident to me. I have no qualms about their expertise and their consideration for our comfort as they work. I'll be happy to have them back to complete the job when that time comes.

The roofers were not as inspiring. A day or two after Manuel and his people were here, two men arrived to look at, and temporarily patch up the hole in the roof. The weather had been clear and dry up to that point so the fan-blown ceiling and wall had not been challenged. After about fifteen minutes of hammering, the men left, assuring me that this temporary patch would hold out the rain. It didn't. Yesterday morning I awoke to a drip, drip, dripping sound as the raindrops hit the plastic above me. I made another call to the contractor and he said that he'd have a crew out during the day to take a look at what needed to be done to keep me dry. True to his word, three men arrived, hammered some more and left. It rained again last night. My roof continued to leak, filling a bucket with about 2 cm (a half inch) of water and causing rivulets of rain to stream down my wall - a cool effect if it wasn't so damaging.

As it stands at the moment, I'm waiting for callbacks from a couple of other local roofers to determine what the problem is, and to acquire an estimate for the repair. I'll be happy when I know my roof can survive the next rainfall or snow melt and I can clear my head from this fog of house repairs.

As for the raccoon family, I've not heard any chattering since the day after their relocation, but an adult (presumably the mom) has been around at night, munching on seeds that had fallen from my bird feeder. When she consumed all visible seed, she climbed the tree, gave the feeder a good whack and sent more munchies tumbling down to the ground, where she feasted some more.

She was totally unconcerned when I opened the door to snap this picture.

Here are some photos that I took late yesterday, while walking around in the fog. Please remember to click on each of them to enlarge.

The day appeared dreary and the path bleak, yet the fog helped to soften the darkness.

I passed very few people out in the park yesterday evening. Paths were mostly empty.

This is one of my favourite sites along the pathway. The tree's bent limb stood out nicely against the dark fog.



Crows perched upon a nearby tree, were dark silhouettes to the background fog.



There are two lovely willows that grow alongside the lake in our park. This is one of them as taken from across the pathway and up on a hill.



A tree leans out over the water to touch the fog.



Winding my way along the path, I startled a pair of ducks who were resting in the snow. As I snapped this photo, one had just taken flight while the other flapped his wing in preparation.



They landed here on a small rocky peninsula that juts out from the shore.



The female met her reflection in the water below as she decided to follow her already-departed partner.



This was the view from the pathway just beyond where the ducks were sitting.



This is the other willow. Its limbs are as wispy as the fog.