Underground Secrets

     One of those ‘occasional thoughts’ that flits through my mind is that we should create a Master List for Household Maintenance.  Probably more organized households have such a list – one that keeps them on track for cleaning chimneys and re-roofing and replacing the smoke alarms.  We used to depend upon our memories but we are finding that they are a bit less reliable than they once were.
     Take the dreaded septic tank.  Lord knows, in these days of wetlands issues and mounded systems and other expensive solutions to waste problems, it does not pay to have a ‘system failure.’  So every once in awhile we remind one another that we must not forget to call Evergreen Septic.  “It must be getting close to five years since they pumped out our tank.”  But, invariably, the thought goes away before we make the phone call.
     Yesterday, in some fit of Getting Things Done, Nyel made the call to find out when our last cleanout was.  “2004!” I heard him say.  We were both amazed.  Time flies while you’re flushing, it seems.
     A nice thing about Evergreen Septic is they don’t fool around.  They were here within a few hours, not to simply check out the situation (which they will apparently do at no cost), but to pump and clean.  In no time flat they were done with no telltale signs except a bit of disturbance where they had removed/replaced the sod.  And… maybe a lingering whiff?  (We fried some onions before our Friday night guests arrived… just in case.)
     It all made me think about the days when there was still an outhouse here.  I remember it well.  Not that there weren’t flush toilets here in Oysterville by my first visit in 1938.  But they were only as reliable as the electricity that ran the pump and, in those days, that wasn’t reliable at all.
     I only remember the outhouse being in one place, but I’m sure it got moved as the hole filled up.  It was a chore that was done on demand, just as the roof got repaired when there was a leak.  And, everyone agreed that an occasional chimney fire wasn’t necessarily a bad thing – at least the chimney got cleaned out.
     I do think my Master List is a better idea.  If I can remember, I’ll start it today…