Simplicity and Complications

“I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain.”

The lyrics to that song keep playing in my head over and over again. Not only because I miss Brickle. But because this little house in Italy is a mixture of good and bad. Simplicity and complications.

I thought of that when I looked at the kitchen pipes this morning. I’ve noticed that in many homes in Italy, the pipes are seen to the home. So are the electrical wires. Everything is seen. It’s not at all like homes in the states where everything is hidden from view. But then, on the other hand, Italian homes hide the refrigerator with facades. Simplicity and complications go hand in hand here.

It would seem simple to get water here. After all, we have a waterfall and a stream. I haven’t seen the stream yet, though. Although I hear it loudly, our view is obstructed by the blackberry thorn bushes that have overtaken this property for years. Many years. Simplicity and complications!

Right now, the water situation for us is important. The two cisterns we can physically carry up the path are about the size of rain barrels and look very similar. We also need pipes and pumps and a water heater which runs on propane to give us hot water for a shower with our waterfall water we divert from it in a more safe fashion. The second eminent issue is the roof. Painting and other work is pointless if the roof falls in.

But one day at a time. Life is so simple up here at Under The Crow. But the complications that are here are trying to get us down. We aren’t giving up now. It’s as simple as that.

-Rachael