Oversplash

What, you ask, is “oversplash”? You’re right to ask. I’ve made it up. While there’s probably a better word, I haven’t managed to summon it from my gray matter gears. The term might evoke images of toilet bowls, but no. No! I’m instead describing what’s located inside Rosslyn’s windows in the morning room and bar.

This is an example of oversplash.

That’s water — indeed, a fair bit of water — beading up on the surface of a handmade cherry bench design and fabricated by my brother almost 20 years ago. Here’s another glimpse.

You can see that the oversplash has drenched the bench and the windowsill. Also the floor and Carley’s bed. Needless to say, an unhappy discovery midmorning today. The window washers opened the windows in order to clean both sides, but they inadvertently doused the interior (at virtually every opening) without realizing or correcting the problem. Both the morning room and the bar were wet, wet, wet.

And while I try to emphasize happier news in my posts, I feel compelled to share today’s misadventures for a couple of reasons.

Let’s start with the most obvious. To gripe and grumble is healing! Let it go. Move on.

Less obvious is the fact that we caught the oversplash early and rectified it immediately. In other words, there appears to have been little or no permanent damage. Phew! Marble floors and wood stairs and stairwells are accustomed to a bit of moisture, and Carley’s spongy bed was little more than inconvenience. But the cherry table and bench are only sealed with hand rubbed oil. They do not endure water well, so I’m grateful to have discovered the problem early.

Another pair of motives guided my decision to share this update. First and foremost, this morning’s mishap reminds me how much I value attention to detail and how fortunate we usually are in this regard. I am profoundly grateful to the many skilled craftsman who have joined our journey over almost 2 decades in Essex. So many have been conscientious and meticulous, consistently completing tasks with accuracy and thoroughness. So this morning’s grievance primed the pump for overflowing gratitude to the great many skilled, punctilious participants in our rehab adventures.

The other motive is to remind myself (and you) that mistakes are made. Sh*t happens. More often than we would all like. But we get through it. Again it again. And we learn from these mishaps. Sometimes we learn to reassign responsibilities. Sometimes we learn to forgive and forget. Always we learn and relearn the importance of adjusting and tweaking, of starting again, and of cultivating agility.

Stay nimble! (And dry up the oversplash before it damages your furniture…)