It is here in Florida.

They say that you keep yourself young by continuing to learn new things.

I say there’s probably a lot of truth to that.

I also say does it have to be boring things?  Scary things?  As we get older, suddenly we need to learn about a host of medical issues–bone loss, prostate troubles, hearing aids and more stuff to do with our teeth than the actual number of teeth we probably still have!

Fortunately, I’m still young enough that the worst is yet to come.  On the other hand, my husband is a good bit older than I, and I’ve moved a lot closer to my mom.

What actually started me thinking about this post wasn’t the delights of aging.  It was thinking about all the new things I’ve had to learn since we bought Casa Lagarto, and the one new thing on the horizon.

I have a well, now.  An aerator.  Security lights and alarm systems.  A septic tank and a drain field.  A gas fireplace.  One enormous exhaust fan in the garage.  A hot water heater, a central vacuum and an air handler.

I didn’t have all of that when I lived in an apartment.  And the one thing I did have that made whatever else I had incidental was a super.  Yay, Santos!  I miss him.

My latest area of investigation–having done the whole air conditioner, fireplace, boat lift thing–is drainage.  Because it rained so much in August (30 out of 31 days) and it came down so fast sometimes that the ground could not absorb it.  I watched small boggy places grow into puddles and then grow into pools where goldfish could have swum.  And then I watched them come up over the concrete slab of the front porch and head for the front door.

My neighbor said, “Did they tell you?  If we have a hurricane, you will have water coming in your front door.”

Great.

To be honest, I am doubtful that it will come in the front door.  We’ve just had more rain than we’ve had in a hundred years, I’m told.  I’m not sure, however, how that is any insurance that we won’t have more at some point.  Like the investing prospectuses all say:  “Past performance is no guarantee of future results.”

So, I’m looking for solutions to–I don’t know–re-contour the ground?  Re-route the water?  Gutters, maybe, would be a good first step.  There’s a thing that looks like a horizontal set of Venetian blinds that might work.  (If I could remember what it’s called long enough to Google it.)  I’ve already bought a thing called a Hydrabarrier which looks like it might be quite effective.

Meanwhile, anybody know anything about French drains?