When Renting Has Its Advantages

Even if you don't live in St. Louis, you still might have heard about all the rain the Midwest has received of late. Though we don't live near any overflowing riverbanks, here's a shot of our own little tragedy as a result of the rain: as of early this morning, Cair Paravel is no more.

The tree (a Chinese Elm) had grown at a 60-degree angle for many years. From what we can tell, all the water eroded the root system enough that the tree's weight (it was big) just toppled it over. In fact, as we were piecing all this together, our 7-year-old showed us a picture she took of this crack in the ground at the base of the tree just yesterday that might have clued us in that it was going to go (so much for being parents aware of their children's play environment).

Thankfully, the tree went down around 4:30 a.m. with no little people in or around the playhouse at the time. Something like that would have been a true tragedy, which we're very grateful to God didn't happen.

Despite clouds of sadness here at the Half Pint House, there do seem to be a few silver linings: from what our landlord and I could tell from our inspection this morning, the playhouse broke the fall and is (still) holding up the bulk of the weight of the tree, salvaging the garage and bringing some redemption to the ruins of its destruction (not to mention points for us with our landlord in building something in our backyard that saved his garage).

Will there be full restoration? Doubtful. But, at least the playhouse served a greater purpose than merely frustrating me for three solid days while building it last May. We may look into some kind of replacement in the future, but right now we're at the mercy of the Triangle of Reality (time, money, quality - you pick two) and will be for a while.

I'm glad I don't have to haggle with the insurance company or figure out how to get rid of the silly tree. Renting does have its advantages.