David C. McLavic - 43. Chapter 43

Stopping I pulled the jeep to the side pf the road as far as possible. The hill side of the mountain was dotted with various cabins, old busses converted into cabins and even wooden sheds.

I was surprised, Bobby’s brother had a camper. This would be okay for one person and maybe two, but not a family. Now I knew why he was concerned.

We met with his brother and his wife. He explained that he took care of the camps of the various campers. The owners paid him to look after their property. There were two concerns, space for a family and a better sewage system then what they had. There was a place that chamber pots were emptied into that over time the liquid leached out into the stream ending in the lake. The solids are treated with lime as necessary. Bobby’s brother took me on a tour, he showed me the various types of sheds/shacks on the property. He was concerned for his family but I saw an opportunity for more units.

Driving back home, I thought of the cabin I design for Uncle Joe and an addition of a second bedroom for Bobby’s brother. They should also need to put in a septic system with the over flow being distributed over the hill side rather than the Lake.

“David, what are you mumbling about?”

“I was thinking of what should be done to keep the sewage from the Lake.”

“Why? The sewage from those hunting cabins has been going to the Lake for a long time.”

“I don’t know if I would want to eat any fish caught in sewage. I certainly wouldn’t feed it to a child.”

“Are you going to design a cabin for my brother?”

“Yes, and if the company buys the design he may get it for free. But he will have to do some work. The base of the cabin must be supported just like mine is supported on those concrete blocks. He will need to dig out the base so that the cabin sits on the blocks which he will need to be cemented in place. You saw what I did, so you can help him.” He just looked at me and smiled. He knew his brother would get a cabin designed by us. There was no way I’d be able to do this without Bobby looking over my shoulder.

That evening I started to make out a list of the work to be done. Actually I made out two lists, one for Bobby’s brother cabin and one for a disposal system.

The next morning before I had a chance to finish my breakfast, Wolf was at the door wagging his tail. He and Bobby had become friends and I expected I would see Bobby walking in in seconds, and he did.

“Good morning. Do you have any tea?”

I just laughed, poured him a cup of tea and gave him the last of Marie’s muffins. I had stored Marie’s baking goods in the window cooler. He sat at the table eating the muffin looking at me.

“What?”

“I knew you did some drawings last night. Can I see them?”

I showed him the drawings for the septic tank and draining field.

“What is this?”

“That is a drawing of a septic system for wastes.”

“You didn’t sketch a cabin?”

“No, I already know what kind of cabin I’ll sketch for him. I need you to see if your brother can come back this week-end and I’ll have some sketches for him to look at.”

“Can I see them also?”

“Of course” Satisfied, he petted Wolf and then left. I knew exactly where he was heading and if I was right, I’d see his brother tonight.

With Bobby gone, I started to sketch out a possible lay out for Bobby’s brother. I took Uncle Joe’s basic cabin, widen it so that I could fit a master bedroom, and two small bedrooms. I would include a living room and an eat in kitchen. There would be a hall way from the master bedroom to the living room. As you entered the hall way from the bedroom, to the immediate left would be a washing area with a clothes washer and dryer and to the right a bathroom. Passing the bathroom there would be a small bedroom. At the end of the hall would be the living room and then the kitchen. Overall length would be about 60 to 70 feet. Water from the bathroom and the washer would drain into a septic tank.

I was waiting for Bobby around dinner time. I even cooked a little more than usual. That night Bobby didn’t show.

The next morning on my way back from the out house, I saw Bobby entering my cabin. Walking into the cabin, I saw him at the stove, with the tea pot. “You’re up early?”

I must have startled him he jumped almost dropping the tea kettle. I couldn’t help it, I started to laugh. He just smiled.

“You scared me.”

“You okay?”

“Yes. I know you worked on the cabin last night. Your light didn’t go off until late.”

“You can see my cabin light.”

“Yea, but only in the fall and winter. When the trees lose some of their leaves, I can see your light.”

‘Let’s have breakfast and I’ll show you a sketch.”

I sat at the table and waited. He looked at me. “You started the tea, so finish making breakfast. You know where the eggs are, toast some bread and then let’s eat.”

I watched him make breakfast. I didn’t want him to get hurt but the eggs were no problem , the toast was a little different. To make the toast one would need to toast the bread over the fire in the fireplace. He was going to apologize for burning the toast. “Look, take a butter knife and scratch the toast.” I showed him, removing the darken burnt particles, leaving behind a sightly darken toast. He did that and all was fine. I had eaten dark toast before, and when I say dark I mean really dark. It doesn’t hurt your body just tastes funny.

I showed Bobby the sketch, he was quite excited about it but he had questions concerning waste disposal. “If he puts in the waste disposal system I designed, he could take his wastes from the bathroom, kitchen and laundry directly to the septic system. He wouldn’t need to leave his home like I do for the out house.”

“Couldn’t he use an out house as well?”

“He could but isn’t this more convenient? On a cold morning, he wouldn’t want to go out and that would leave the waste in the chamber pot to stink up the cabin. With a septic system it will be better.”

With a smile has was gone. I knew he went home to tell his parents and if he was lucky, he would get a ride to his brother with the news. I chuckled as he was so excited.