Water

Water-Pure Clean Water
John Teufel
Such natural historic beauty! Natalie and I are enjoying a delightful visit to the Catskill region of New York State. We are relishing my brother and sister-in-law’s hospitality on their majestic property called the Black Walnut Farm. Actually, today it is a farmette where no active farming is done but it is not hard to picture the history.
The historic 1747 thirty five acre homestead was developed by a son of the Myers family who were granted land by the British Crown well before the American Revolution. I could go on forever about the property and homestead. One of the things I enjoy most (after the hospitality) is the wildlife. There is everything on this property from voles to coyotes, beavers, and a resident bear. Last night I enjoyed watching sleek deer peacefully grazing 50 to 100 yards from the home. I found myself looking out over the property fantasizing what life must have been like in the pre-Revolutionary War day.
The home itself is amazing. It is apparent that construction was done with hand tools and countless hours of backbreaking labor. It’s amazing what a man and a boy can do with a crosscut saw to produce massive hand hewed beams. I am actually sitting on a porch where I can gaze at the walls of field stones that contribute so much to the endurance of this structure. In fact, there are numerous areas such as the bathroom where it is evident that the stone walls are 30 inches or more thick. So much for our “solid” 2X4” and 2x6” construction methods. The construction is amazingly enduring but not without flaws. My brother-in-law had to install thousands of wooden shims to get the flooring level.
One of the most intriguing parts of the home to me is one doorway. It is apparent that the five and a half foot door frames were built in an era where most folks weren’t six foot four inches tall. Even though I can be klutzy at times, I haven’t hit my head-yet.
This fortress of a home was built with a lot of forethought that, with the proper maintenance, can endure for many more generations. The structure is proven and the property appears to be a “self-contained domestic Shangri-La.” There is only one major and not readily apparent “flaw.” The most important element of the site is totally invisible. Sometime before my brother and sister- in-law bought the property, an industrial complex was constructed about three quarters of a mile away. Because of majestic towering pines that rim the farm it’s not real visible. You see, dangerous toxic chemicals leached into the water table which allegedly caused many neighborhood health problems. Although the water has approached safer purity levels over time and the factory is long defunct, even Dixie the Golden Retriever now drinks bottled water. That’s what the truck was doing yesterday that backed up the long narrow driveway- bringing unlimited pure water. Without it, this would only be a beautiful dream and not a permanent home no matter what the construction.
With my own thoughts focusing so much on building safety and security into my life, I need constant reminders that I cannot build invulnerability on my own. My best planning for an enduring future has left me susceptible to unanticipated outside forces. Over time, there are hidden leaching contaminants that invisibly seep into my day to day life and jeopardize my long term well being. Some are not even my fault. One thing is becoming much more apparent each day. I need to depend on a pure outside source of water that will never end in this era of seemingly constant discovery of more new emerging pollutants.