Stahlke Adoption

Scents

About a week ago, we returned from our yearly trip to Texas. Much of Jonathan's family resides in Austin, and my parents also lived there for many years (they moved to Virginia in June). We had a good trip, with lots of fun activities. My favorites were a day at Mustang Island near Corpus Christi, and an afternoon in Hannibal, Missouri visiting Mark Twain sites.

While we were away from Chicago, a storm blew through and flooded almost every basement in Forest Park. Our 3-1/2 inches of water were actually less than many other people suffered. I've heard about depths of three to four feet in some homes.

Our basement has been wet for years, but certain areas had always remained dry. Therefore, many of our belongings that I thought were safely stored received damage in the flood. Then they sat for two weeks until we returned from vacation. It couldn't be helped, and the items weren't worth enough money to hire someone to clean for us.

I am, however, sifting through clothing, rugs, and other items that have been wet with storm water for two weeks. The clothing is coming clean with bleach, and all of the wet paper items are in the recycle bin. The metal collector has taken several items, and so far I've managed to limit the actual garbage to three large bags.

The hardest task has been sorting through the children's trash bags, which had been stored in the basement and all got wet. When the kids clean their rooms, the "rubbish" often contains tools, jewelry, and other valuable items. In addition, I always look among the papers for school essays, since the historian in me saves the interesting ones as keepsakes. For example, "Rachel's Story" that I posted in January 2010 was found among discarded school papers.

A few days ago, I said goodnight to Kola. He told me, "Mom, you smell like 'basement'." Hoping that the odor he smelled was bleach, I asked what he meant. "Mold."

posted by Stahlkes @ 11:33 AM