Even though school has started and the barn swallows have headed south and the days are getting noticeably shorter, I know that it’s still summer in Oysterville.  I know that because the roofers are busy overhead again.  At our house, summer isn’t over until the season’s shingling has been completed.  At least, that’s the way it’s been for the last three or four years.

First of all, it’s a big house and there is a lot of roof.  Then there are the building/materials requirements of living in the Oysterville National Historic District.  And then there is the ever-increasing cost of cedar shingles.  Not to mention the ever-decreasing buying power of our retirement income.

So… big projects like roof replacement get done bit by bit. We were hoping to skip this summer’s ‘bit’ to give ourselves a chance to recoup, but a few months ago I noticed some questionable activity in the north upstairs bedroom.  Small spots and loosening of the ceiling paper!  YIKES!

It looked suspiciously like a leak.  Not a big, dripping, watery leak.  Just a hint of seepage.  Clearly a warning to do something before the winter rains begins.  So, we immediately called our roofer and got on his list.

Yesterday was our lucky day.  The trucks pulled into the lane.  Ladders and bundles of shingles were unloaded, and fast-moving men, as agile as dancers, began pulling off the old and putting on the new.  As a bonus, house and garden smell fabulous.

I’m trying not to think about the several surfaces that they won’t be doing this time around.  Hopefully, those roof parts will weather one more rainy season and next year we will be able to finish what was started four (or was it five?) years ago.

The temptation is to begin planning a celebratory trip or a ‘Hooray for the Roof’ party. But, there’s that pesky east porch that needs redoing and exterior painting is overdue…  Besides, why travel when we can just stay in Oysterville where every day feels like a party?  And, if anyone believes that, we have some swampy acreage nearby for sale…