Flower by flower, Mill Brook House is coming back. There are bluebirds in the birdhouses, yellow-bellied sapsuckers tapping up a storm in the woods, and a great blue heron is frequenting the Irene-enlarged stream that runs behind the house. Having channeled the entire Mill Brook for one week, the stream is now large enough to support thumb-sized minnows that interest the heron. Frogs, silenced by the cold snap after the March heat wave, will be calling and singing again soon.
A giant log swept in by the storm and lodged against one bank of the Mill Brook, where it runs through our land.
It has been an arduous and sometimes frustrating road to recovery, but we are almost there. All of our systems had to be rebuilt or replaced, work that was finally complete by Christmas 2011. Our humble thanks to the diligent tradesmen who persisted until everything was working again. Thanks, too, to our neighbor Ian, who had the good sense to tie our propane tank to the deck, lest it join hundreds of other tanks washed down the Deerfield in the storm. Sadly, our secure dog pen, which took the full force of the flood, was completely destroyed.
Clearing sand and debris, front and back, so that our garden and driveway could be restored took most of the fall. We continue to work on resurrecting the garden, the lawns and the meadows and removing flotsam from the woods.
Jonathan Winfisky clears sand from the backyard. Jonathan runs heavy equipment in the summer and blows glass in the winter.
Living with our cheerless landscape through the fall and snowless winter was depressing, but with spring’s renewal finally here, each survivor that pokes its head up in the garden, each new blade of grass—even the garden’s unwanted grass, which we carefully remove and plant elsewhere—and every returning bird bring enormous joy. Mill Brook House is coming back!
We will be ready for guests on June 1. For prices and availability, please check our listing at: http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p144555 .
Look what the cat dragged in!
Jonathan Winfisky's glass (above) can be purchased
at the Grow Gallery in Shelburne Falls.