First casualty

Good-bye, old oak floors. Now laid to rest in hazardous materials bags. I'm sorry the asbestos guys couldn't save you. Let your passing be a warning to other rash, carefree remodelers, those who think that their design choices will live forever. Such a waste.

This went up this morning.

A serious warning for renovators. Sheet vinyl can contain asbestos. Ours had asbestos in its paper layer. This paper layer is quite friable (it tears and shreds when you try to pull off the vinyl) and dangerous. Don't feel safe because your old house doesn't have the more common asbestos tiles. Get your older flooring tested. Lecture over.

It struck me just now that my house looks like a movie set. For a scary movie. All this thick hanging semi-opaque plastic. Wait. I thought I caught movement. Just as I was turning. Out of the corner of my eye. Blurred behind the plastic. "Kids?" No answer. "I told you guys not to go in there. It's dangerous." Annoyed, I peek behind the plastic. Nothing. Just the hulking metal bodies of disconnected appliances and the oddly sinister plastic-sheeted outlines of boxes and shelving. I retreat and starting walking away when I see it again. Fleeting. A quick suggestion of movement.

Not really. Just in my imagination as the sun lowers and shadows gather.