The First Afternoon in Maryland

Thank you for your comments on my last post. The thought of making a trip south had been percolating for several weeks. I put it off when my family came north to visit for a couple days. When Ken suggested a trip in mid-September, and then agreed to drive south, I felt compelled to go to the house where I lived as a child. My mother said she was willing to go with us, and the plan was hatched.

My mother's house is in a neighborhood of several hundred homes that were built post-WWII. Most are small three-bedroom houses built on slabs and, while some people have added a porch or vinyl siding, they look pretty much the same. When we entered the neighborhood this trip, I noticed that yards were groomed and houses were being kept up. Cars parked on the streets were fairly new and in good shape. This is good news if my mom decides to put her house on the market.

We did not know what to expect when we rounded the curve in front of my mom's house. Power lines cross a field next to her property so she has a yard three times the size of most in the community. Other than looking like it needed to be mowed, the yard looked fine. The house looked like I remembered, and from the outside it looked like it was intact.

Once inside, we breathed a sigh of relief. The house looked like it did when I was last there four and a half years ago. The new back door was still closed and locked, and there was no sign of a fresh break-in. Mom turned the water on and we began to take stock of what we needed to do if we were going to stay there overnight. Ken went outside to take a walk around the house, and Mom and I looked for towels in the hall closet.

Then I heard what sounded like a trickle of water. The hall closet is just steps away from the bathroom so maybe a faucet had been left open. Just outside the bathroom is a cubby for the water heater and boiler; that's where we spotted the steady drip and growing puddle. Mom quickly found a string mop and turned the valve that fed water to the boiler, which heats the water to fill the pipes that run through the concrete slab to provide radiant heat for the house.

We called to Ken to come down the hall, and the three of us watched as the water continued to trickle and drench the towels we laid down. Mom found the number of the company that last serviced the 60 year-old heating system. Someone would be over in less than an hour. Again, sighs of relief.

The house was built for efficient use of space. The bathroom backs up to the kitchen and all the plumbing is in the common wall, so I wasn't surprised to see water on the kitchen floor. We started mopping and laying down towels in that room, too.

When the man arrived to assess the boiler, the verdict was that it needed to be replaced. No surprise there. It was original to the house. A garden hose was run from the boiler to the front yard to drain the twenty gallons of water still in the tank. It was time for a new boiler, and it could be installed the next day. Mom agreed without hesitation.

Then she called the man who mows the yard. My mother was ready to take care of business, and Ken and I were ready to help. After a trip to the grocery store, and four washloads of sheets and towels, we were ready for our stay. It was just the first afternoon and look at what had already been accomplished....