01.18.2009 - 10:07 a.m.

A conversation I clearly recall having with the inspector we hired before we bought the house:

Me: "So every winter, we should turn off the water to the outside faucets, right?

Him: "Whal, you'd definitely need to in an older home, but you do have some nice hardware in this one. See, these cut the water way back in the wall, not out at the spout. And it takes a lot more to freeze back thar, where you've got the heat from the house helpin' you out."

A crucial line that was surely a part of that conversation, but of which I have no memory:

Him: "Unless it gets really cold, like negative three, fer instance. Then you should definitely turn off that line."

That much water in a cold garage smells sharp and clean and still wild, even though it's come up through miles of pipes and conduits, filters and valves before spraying itself out through a flaw in the stressed copper. It's still a force of nature; it will always want out. We cracked the garage door and swept it clear in sheets, and this morning it's all gone back to ground save for a few small, frozen-solid puddles where our driveway joins the one we share with our neighbors.

We're lucky we don't store much on the floor. Though I'm not looking forward to the water bill.

-stonebridge

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