Third Time Was Not a Charm

by Donna Swagerty Shreve

This is a cautionary tale.The holidays had arrived and my entire family was in the house. I had cooked ahead so I could spend m

ore time with family and not too much spent in the kitchen. We had had a challenging year with John’s bicycle accident, with hospitalization, and house repairs. First our sun deck leaked into our bedroom area to the point we needed pans to catch the water and not ruin our flooring. Our entire sun deck had to be replaced. As we were in the throes of finalizing that repair with last minute add ons because more damage was found, more repairs were needed in our second bathroom. It seems our shower, which had been installed several years ago, had been leaking behind our wall. That repair involved removing the shower and  replacing it with an upgrade plus repairing the wall and removing all mold. 

Our newly repaired home was finally ready for our visiting family. We received compliments on the new shower. Then as we were gathered in the great room, conversation went to a family picture over the fireplace because it had a splotch on it that had been pointed out earlier by son Aaron.  Our great room goes up two stories and allows me to display many ancestors on both sides of our family. Brad had agreed to help me add a few more photos and rearrange the display. As he was checking out the possibilities, he asked, “What is that in Mimi’s photo?” My mother’s photo is hung about eight feet above the floor. She is framed with my father in a elegant frame that has been hanging for the last 25 years. I was involved with a FaceTime with my niece and did not engage. John slowly and reluctantly removed it from the wall. The wall had the muddy splotch that can only be left by subterranean termites.  Termites had been feasting on the picture of my mother! Soon Brad is making this announcement and there is quite a lot of excitement from all. John quickly took the termites into the garage where he sprayed the offenders. He then came back and sprayed into the several pin holes in our wall. Brad then took a dust buster and vacuumed up any hint of termites from the picture frame.

The next order of business was John calling the pest control company. When they realized we had live and very active termites, they put us at the top of the list. The inspector came out in a few days and went into every room and closet. Fortunately for us the termites were just in the one area. My photos are so precious to me as I have quite a collection of photos from several generations displayed. The termites could have had quite a picnic if they had not been caught when they were.

The actual terminators arrive tomorrow to give our home and property a thorough dosing and it should take up to two months for all of the little buggers to be eradicated. I do hope the year 2025 is more gentle to us. Our retirement is being spent keeping a roof over our heads! As a side note, make copies of your precious pictures before the termites get them.

560words

1/6/2025

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