“Button up your overcoat when the wind is free…
- song by Ray Henderson, lyrics by B.G. DeSylva and Lew Brown
The song, “Button Up Your Overcoat” was published in 1928 and premiered on the air waves and the Broadway stage soon after. I’d like to think someone living inside our Dovetail Lodge during that era was heard whistling this ditty. Certainly in 2021, I was humming this tune as we put down the third layer of tarps on neglected portions of the roof while the wind bustled about, billowing our tarps as if we were playing parachute games. All in good fun really as it was a gorgeous fall day for this necessary care giving. With every bang of the hammer, we reminded ourselves that fixing the roof properly will happen all in good time. For now, “buttoning up her overcoat” is the best that we could do for our future home.
Why is that you ask? Well, the winds of change gifted us a shift in priorities resulting in a handful of other do-it-yourself projects for the house where we currently reside. Translated, both of our beautiful daughters have returned home to regroup and reroute themselves. Good on them. And good on all of us for embracing the challenge of 4 adults, 1 dog, and 2 cats living together in a 2 bed 1 bath 900 square foot bungalow built in 1926.
Yet we are all creative, resourceful and skilled. So a new basement bathroom, a new back yard fence for the dog who likes to run away, a new cat door leading to the front of the house for the cats who now live in the basement but still like to roam outside, a new additional door at the bottom of the newly enclosed stairwell to keep the dog and the cats away from each other, a new mattress to replace the lumpy stack of old futons, and a collection of strategically placed space heaters later — we are figuring out how to make it all work. (yes, the run on sentence is intentional, forcing you to also stop and catch your breath.)
It has been fun working together again as a family. So much more to share about building a bathroom on a very barebone budget. Also about transforming dank concrete block and exposed pipes into an industrial-esque backdrop for a laundry area, craft room, home office, bedroom, yoga work out space, and storage area. OK - so it’s still mostly all a storage area and “rooms” might be a stretch for hanging curtains/positioning bookcases to designate different spaces—but it is still a rather impressive expansion of invisible square footage don’tcha think?
I remind myself and everyone else that this is how all of our grandparents lived during the Depression and WWII. It’s also how many people are still living today, especially as a global pandemic and conflicts no longer referred to as wars rage rampant all around the world. We are very aware of our good fortune to have a home by which to weather these storms, however close the quarters. Hopefully, the winds of change are bringing better days for everyone. Meanwhile, do button up your overcoats. You, me, we — all belong to each other — so let’s take good care of our collective selves eh?