I dunno, that was one of a long string of things the GG was talking to the UU about this afternoon out in the backyard as we were cooking kebabs on the grill. There has been a problem with the lucky-shucky in the Lyme Lounge all summer. I know it’s technically autumn now but it doesn’t really feel like autumn, not that I am complaining. Nevertheless, the Lyme Lounge followed the Twinz of Terror all the way to North Dakota and back and returned yesterday from yet another trip, this time mostly to the yooperland.

The yooperland trip began with closing the moomincabin but as it turns out, that job did not get totally completed. The GG was photo-documenting the procedure, including how to put antifreeze down the terlet, etc. Problem? He was so busy photo-documenting the terlet that he thinks he forgot to put antifreeze into the other drains. That would be the shower, bathroom sink, and kitchen sink, if I have it right. It is an EXTREMELY simple plumbing system albeit a bit more complicated than the one my dad grew up with, which was, “grab a bucket, run down to the lake, fill the bucket, and run back up.” With an outhouse for sewage disposal.

A cousin of mine (on the non-Fin side of the fam) is a lawyer whose specialty is insurance and I can tell he thinks our cabin is a total liability, although he understands why we love it there. But. For one thing, although it’s true that it’s closed nine months out of the year, it isn’t like it’s totally abandoned. Three of the dwellings on the beach are occupied year-round by cousins of mine and another by good friends. Cousins are driving by every day and some of them watch who drives down our road. Like I do when I am up there. Sure, a thief or vandal could sneak in and do damage but something like a fire would be noticed immediately.

And then there is the plumbing. The one time we had a burst pipe, it was our fault for not turning the right valve on or off or whatever. The moomincabin is built a few feet off the ground up on cement blocks. Because the burst pipe, like most of the pipes, was under the cabin, the water drained out into the sand below, meaning there was no water damage. The GG went to town and got some plumbing supplies and the whole issue was fixed in a matter of a couple hours. The biggest problem with that little repair job was that it was cold out that day (40s?) and a northwest wind was SCREAMING in off Gitchee Gumee and right through the crawl space under the cabin, where he was working. Needless to say, he has since blocked off the front of the crawl space, where the cabin faces Gitchee Gumee and her wicked winds.

That moooooon is a waxing crescent, not quite the “has-moon”, that’s tomorrow. That’s what my daughter called the “half moon” when she was an emerging talker.

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