Unsettled

Owning a cabin is basically akin to owning a second house, and we all know what that means. Things age out or need repair. But problems in the north woods can be a little different from in the Cities: a rebellious septic system or recalcitrant well-pump, and the nearest town of any size (pop. 2182) a thirty minute drive away on a good day.



Unsettled


This weekend it's the wind.
Winter weakened branches
plummet from pines and birch,
white caps party, finely free
from ice out, twenty-some geese
camp on the shoreline like travelers
grounded. Then the water pump fails.
A jerry-rig fix until the well-man
can show sometime next week
with finger tips darkly etched,
ready to poke around the shaft
plunged in shadowed recesses.
If we're lucky, his truck holds
redemptive parts. If not, a whole
new mechanism to order.
For now, I rescue the thermometer
face down at the base of the maple.



Marilyn Aschoff Mellor