Turtle Vents

We have turtle vents on the north and south walls of our house. Never noticed them. They were just stuck to the side of the house. Then we hit a particularly wet windy spring. In Kansas when it storms it doesn’t rain down from the sky. It rains sideways. About 35 mph. It’s not deadly, it’s not hurricane force winds. It’s just annoying. Umbrellas are useless, they get caught in the wind and flip inside out. About the only good an umbrella does is to put it in front of you like a shield, duck behind it and push your way to where ever you want to go.

I can’t tell you how many times I have tied a trash bag over my head and taken my shoes off to run barefoot to the car.

When it stormed, the turtle vents let the rain in. It then ran down the inside of the walls and damaged the walls and the window sills, etc.

The storm wasn’t the problem. It was unpleasant, but much needed moisture hit the earth. Everything was fresh smelling and turning green. It ushered in spring.

The turtle vents were the problem. How long they had been stuck to the side of the house doing what they were supposed to, half heartedly, we don’t know. It took a storm to show that they weren’t right. Not just rain, a storm. Blowing, howling, hard pounding storm.

Sometimes there are problems below the surface. We aren’t even aware that they are there. Or if we are, they seem minor so we leave them alone. Then the storm comes. And we weather the storm. We start to see the green again. We smell the fresh. We see the sun. But the storm has uncovered weak areas.

There will always be tornadoes, earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis. The question is, are our turtle vents installed correctly? We are always going to have storms. Job loss, health complications, marriage problems. Have we put the proper safe guards in place to live through the storm and emerge on the other side into the promise of a fresh new world? Replacing, even rebuilding if necessary?