Water can travel miles in search of the lowest point. It appears to always find me. I’ve been in penthouses, making it not that difficult for the water to make my acquaintance. I’ve lived in basement units, again, not too difficult to figure out how, and why, it was able to locate me despite my unlisted address, but I am currently sandwiched between two other units. It made itself known, gently knocking on the door by staining the corner of the ceiling near a front window, and trickling down the wall. When that didn’t get the attention it was looking for it showed up in the bedroom and bathroom windows. You know what I mean – showed UP.

I brought out crews. I stood in the rain on the fire escape and examined the brick wall for saturation, missing bits of mortar, for clues to the infiltration. I laid my hand on the wall to make sure it felt seen and understood and to whisper to it quietly to stop its crying. I was going to take care of it. I did all that and still more water spewed through the light fixtures and return air vents in the ceiling like water pouring over the edge of a rock formation to a gushing spectacle. 

I am a water sign. How I am just discovering this now, all these years into my life is a mystery. A Scorpio, I’m supposed to “crackle” with intensity. Crackle – that sounds firey doesn’t it? Loyal, secretive, resentful, determined. I am a series of contradictions that has the water dancing in swirling circles around me. 

Lest you think I am crazy, I know that all the places I have owned – that really own me, are not actually alive. It matters not because they teach me about self-care. Buildings like people need a lot of attention, affection, restoration, renovation and constant upkeep, just like me. Sometimes I forget that, and perhaps its the waters way of saying – hey, “Take care of you”. 

The problem was pinpointed. An important part of the recovery. The surgery began, but uh oh, the disease had spread. I thought it was a Stage One problem, but it turns out it’s a Stage Four. Nothing to do but open that ceiling all the way up, rip out all that insulation, contact Big ASS Fans to see if we can dry it all out and then spray the living daylights out of it with bleach before buttoning it back up. Water is wily, and the fact that it largely is hidden from view is not excuse for not attending to it. Mold will kill you faster than a two pack a day habit.