I Did A Thing! — Water Where There Was None

I did a thing! And it’s a big deal…. I brought water to where there was none. But before I get to that, we need to catch up. I know, long time… Too long really. So much has happened since my last post I feel it is important to acknowledge all the chaos that has been going on in our crazy world.

In case you’ve been living in an alternate universe, there is a worldwide pandemic going on. No surprise, our country is handling it with so much incompetence when compared to the rest of the developed world. Only countries under fascist leaders seem to be doing worse. Sadly after what seemed like progress in early June, ignorance and misinformation have reigned, and we are spiking once again. But that’s not what this blog is about, so I will leave it at that. And if you’re not already… Please wear a Friggin Mask! Not wearing one is the most selfish thing one can do.

And then there is the other 400+ year old elephant in the room… So much has been written about this topic in the past five weeks I don’t know that I have much to add. I grew up in a mostly white neighborhood in central California and, thankfully, I was not raised to hate others for their differences. At least not by my parents. However, I am absolutely guilty of doing the wrong thing more than once in my life. As I have learned the errors of my ways, I am so very much more conscious of my privilege and how I have benefited over others. Much of what has come to light, ties into things I have learned over the past few years. Only now I have so many more pieces of the puzzle, the picture of what has really been going on is impossible to not see. (Below image credit: Courney Ahn Design – IG: @courtneyahndesign)

The only way to undo racism is to consistently identify and call it out… And then work to dismantle it. We are all racist to varying degrees and there is no shame in that as long as we are willing to recognize it and work to change it. It’s what we do with this knowledge that really matters. For me, that includes checking myself as well as being willing to call out others, even it if is uncomfortable.

I am more committed than ever to being an anti-racist and keeping an open mind and heart. It is only through having learned how to truly have empathy for others that I have reached this point. I am grateful to have my eyes opened and am looking forward to learning more.
And yes…. BLACK LIVES MATTER!

Now for some good news and then onto the point of this post… I had my six month follow-up (a month late) with my doctors this past week and my tests came back NED (No Evidence of Disease) which means I am officially CANCER FREE! Of course that is what I was expecting, but nonetheless, it is a milestone to be cancer free for what is now seven months.

I am recovering well overall. I began walking 30+ minutes a day back in April, and have not missed a single day since. I started out with walking a 20:35 mile, and I am now averaging below 16 minutes. And, just last Friday, I walked two miles in under 30 minutes (29:38). Never in my 50 something years have I been this consistent with daily exercise. In fact, I hate exercise more than just about anything else. But I know I need to do this to get my health back, and keep it.

Okay… Finally… I Did a Thing!

Sorry it took 617 words to get to the point of this post, but I just needed to get all that out there. So, what is this thing I did? I brought water to our backyard for the first time in the 167 years since our house was built.

If you are new here, our backyard is fairly typical for South Philly, albeit at twelve by sixteen feet, a bit larger than most. It is solid concrete with cinder-block and stucco walls… As you can see above… Not. Very. Inviting. At. All…

A couple of our neighbors have managed to turn their small yards into an urban oasis, but we are starting with a blank slate… And given that there has never been a source of water in the backyard, it’s not surprising it is so bleak.

I am sure you are asking yourself… How is it possible that nobody has ever installed a water spigot to the backyard? (You were asking yourself that, yes?)

It boils down to this… While the house had a single cold water tap inside in 1852, it wasn’t until the 1880’s that it got a proper kitchen sink and a bathroom was built above the kitchen in the rear of the house. Then shortly after 1900, the house became a rental property for almost the entire 20th century.

It didn’t help that the neighborhood was depressed for almost the entire century. The 1934 JM Brewer Survey of Philadelphia (an early redlining map) considered the condition of houses in my immediate neighborhood to be a mix of “Lower or Working Class” and “Decadent” (the lowest of low). Curiously enough, my block was also 90%+ Jewish, which makes sense given that Fabric Row is only a few blocks away.

It wasn’t until the 1980’s that a second toilet was added, as a half bath, on the main floor (that is when the investor owner upgraded the kitchen and bath above to make it rentable). Given the history of the house, there was no incentive to spend the money on a spigot… I have no doubts that most of the residents were more focused on survival than the inconvenience of not having a hose out back.

Most of our house has copper plumbing (I am guessing from the 1980s updates?), but, at some point in more recent history, the hot and cold lines running from the basement were swapped over to PEX which pretty much made using it a no-brainer. It is the absolute easiest method to add on a water line.

Before I could move forward, I needed to settle on a system to connect the pipes together. There are several, including the super simple push on Shark-Bite connections, which I simply don’t trust won’t leak in a few years. Ultimately, I settled on copper crimp rings. To use this system, I needed a somewhat pricey crimping tool which I got from Amazon. Investing in this tool is a lot cheaper than hiring a plumber to do it for me, and it should last for many years to come.

Once I selected my method of connecting the PEX pipes together, I just needed to plan out where to tap into the current water and then run the line to where I needed it to go.

Because this line is running to the outdoors and will be in an external wall without a lot of insulation, I decided the best thing to do is to add an easy to reach shut off in the basement (above) followed by another shut off to allow me to drain the pipe for winter (below).

This is exciting! Right!?!? You’re damn right this is exciting… This has been on my list from the first day I discovered there was no water in the backyard.

So, with all the pipes in, and the spigot installed, it was time to turn on the water supply and test things out.

Woo Hoo!!!!! We have water in the back yard!

The next task was installing a hose reel and hose…

Then it was off to a big-box store (at an off hour with my mask on and plenty of hand sanitizer) to buy a toy I have been longing for… A power washer! Our backyard was so very dirty after decades of only being washed down by rainfall… It flooded several inches deep every time it rained because the past owners didn’t do any maintenance. Time to clean all that grime up!

I got this power washer from Greenworks and WOW what a difference it made! After setting it up, I power washed so much dirt and grime off of the concrete patio and block walls I ended up with actual small piles of mud. With no place to wash the mud too (I didn’t want it go down the storm drain and clog up our sewer), I decided to wait a day to let things dry out.

The next morning, after things had dried up, I swept the now dry dirt into a bag… But what the hell would I do with it now? Every square inch of our outdoor space is paved with concrete, where was I supposed to put this two pounds of dirt and bits? Well… Judge me if you want, but my only viable option was to toss it out with the trash… It felt odd throwing dirt into the trash, but I seriously didn’t know what else to do. Fortunately, the likelihood of having to dispose of dirt like this isn’t likely to happen again anytime soon… This was decades worth of dirt build-up.

What a difference! With the dirt gone, and another quick wash down with my regular hose, the backyard is the cleanest it has been in decades! I no longer feel guilty tossing food to Bixby on the very dirty ground… Now it is clean enough for a dog to eat off of it without guilt. As you can see in the rare capture of his face (he ALWAYS turns away when the camera is near), he is pretty happy about this too.

Now… All this is super thrilling but we’re not done with the backyard by any means… We may have water out there, but we are still missing another important amenity… Electricity! There has never been electric anything out back, not even a porch light! So, you can guess my next project?

This is the very first time either of us have a yard as adults… This is kind of a big deal for us. After moving in back in 2018, I went out and bought a gas grill and a set of nice lounge chairs. We barbecued about five or six times that summer, but never actually spent any time out there. Then last year we didn’t barbecue once. Basically we forgot it was there (I didn’t now I had cancer yet, which explains why I was always too damned tired to make the effort).

This year being our third summer in the house, I decided we needed to make use of our yard… The two lounge chairs were great, but we didn’t have a table to sit at… A few days after they allowed retail stores to open, I donned my mask and carefully navigated IKEA for the perfect table for two. (The photo above what shot last week when all the fireworks was scaring the bejesus out of Bixby.)

Also we wanted a fountain and some proper lighting (who doesn’t?)… DONE. (More about the lighting and fountain in a future post)
Until we get electricity out there, I am running a power cord out of the window every time we want to spend time out there. Even in its incomplete state, it has become a lovely place to relax. Last weekend I shot the video below to capture just how things have improved back there and how nice it is to spend time outside.

Next on my agenda, as mentioned, is electricity for the backyard, followed by plants… And then that will be enough for this year. Once all that is completed, I can turn my attention back to my many other projects. Like my studio which I was supposed to start last spring. We’ll get there…

Till next time. . .

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