Sunday Morning, Eight O'Clock

Churches have their own design layouts, their furniture, evolved from tradition and practice. All Saints Chapel in my town is part of an Episcopal parish, yet we meet in the town's Congregational "summer church." Since the old place is empty except for the summer and weddings now and then, we have been able to warm the building every Sunday at 8:00.

The interior is nothing like the classic Episcopal church with an altar at the front of the nave and often glorious decoration and windows of colored glass. Our adopted church was built by people of the Book in 1826, so all eyes are drawn to the reading desk, imposing on its raised dais, looming over the pews. We have pulled a table in front of the desk to serve as an altar.

The church doesn't seem to mind the difference between scripture Congregationalists and the creedal Episcopalians. It contains us all. The windows are clear, ribbony old glass in wooden frames. The steeple doesn't have a cross on top; instead there's a weather vane, visible to the farmers roundabout. Useful, not fancy.

The Cellar Troll

Last night, after the smells and noises from the cellar became too urgent to be ignored, Doc took a flashlight down for a look. It wasn't nice at all. The furnace has blown. An evil little puff of gray smoke was coming out of a hole on the side of the boiler and an expansion tank up under the ceiling was raining water down on the whole mess -- perhaps this was the fail-safe against a fire?

It was a chilly night under the quilts and the morning was a parade of somber men up and down the cellar steps. "Damn," a friend said, "just be glad it isn't January. The heating season's over." But it isn't, not really, with 29 degrees predicted for tonight.

We read website recommendations and hope we can manage the beautiful, tightly engineered German oil burner which does the best job. It seems that with only 7% of the USA still using oil-fired furnaces, the incentive to improve on 1930's and 40's boiler design is absent. In "old Europe" with little water power, oil furnaces are the norm and the various governments make sure the engineering gets done and standards are set. Enough to chill a Republican's heart! Socialism!

I wish the sun would stay out all day but clouds are moving in. Soon the house will start to cool off again. Off to the grocery store and the flower place -- I'm going to buy pansies for Easter for a change. I really don't expect to get a new furnace in for at least a week, probably more. We'll make a big dent in the woodpile after all.