Surviving Winter 2015: It took a village

You want to know about how we fared in our cozy home perched atop Beacon Hill in the snowiest year on record — and possibly the snowiest year in our house’s 200 year history? The mounds of snow were as pretty and outstanding as you’d like to imagine. But the sheer volume that amassed during the three weeks of blizzards left a lot of snow to be shoveled, less and less space to put it and a still daunting question of where it will all go when it melts!

Managing the Friends House can be a series of unpredictable events that for the most part, keeps work fun and interesting. This winter became challenging when the unpredictable became predictable: Shovel from the blizzard; shovel from another blizzard, shovel from clearing the roof; look out, here’s a leak, and another, and another.

Undaunted by the snow, ice and leaks, Jim Elliot of the Building Oversight Committee came to the rescue. He showed us how to make ice melt socks to create channels for the water to move away safely. We got on the roof and shoveled snow off the front and back as best we could. By the time we were done, the mounds of snow in front of the house reached the floor of the portico out front. In the St. Francis courtyard there were piles almost as high as the deck itself. Our north downspout was so thick with ice that it threatened to take down the neighbor’s shutter. My favorite task was shattering the icicles on the fire escapes and the ice encrusted on the downspouts on the rear facade. Out there, the sun was strong enough to loosen the ice and warm the body as the ice made xylophone sounds tumbling to the ground.

The image that sticks from this winter took shape on a balmy Sunday afternoon in late February. We’d had another snow, and worse than that, the cellar was flooding and wouldn’t stop. Residents and staff, guests and meeting members pitched in all day. I went from wearisome work bailing water from the dark cellar inside to a joyful shoveling party outside on a sunny afternoon. A guest from Maine was helping Bill dig out his car, buried for weeks in six feet of snow. Lucas was back from Ecuador and filled with fresh energy for shoveling.

With shovels outnumbering people, I was trying to find the most useful place to put myself when I heard water rushing from the alleyway next to #10 Chestnut. I realized that the new owners– who’ve not yet moved in — must have had a pipe burst in their kitchen. I called the fire department, and a truckload of firefighters showed up to shut off the water. Not only did this stop the deluge in the dungeon, but one of the firefighters gave us tips on ice removal: Turn a garden hose on the bottom of the downspout with as much pressure as you can and gradually work your way up.

We didn’t know it then, but that was the beginning of the end of winter at the Friends House — when many hands, stronger sun, and a garden hose began to melt away winter’s troubles.

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gallery of photos from BHFH’s winter wonderland lives here: bit.ly/BHFHsnow15.