That Tree

In the clump between Granby Heights and Route 116, this is the only tree that's pockmarked like this. I've heard woodpeckers here, and I'm guessing this has to be the work of woodpeckers. Or maybe it's sick. A fungus or something. Perhaps it is the work of a bear. Bears roam occasionally into Granby Heights. But why only this tree? Some things are singular or singled out, or both.

Because I'm not a naturalist, I would like to know what is that silver sack in the top hole in the above photograph. My best guess is that insects were incubating in there when I took these photos in June.

Blues musician Howard Armstrong once told a story about how his teacher beat him (this was a long time ago) when he wrote a poem that included lines that went something like, ``He pecked on the door until his pecker was sore,'' and ``He pecked in the yard because his pecker was hard.''

This photograph of a total eclipse of the sun was taken in 1919 to prove Einstein's general theory of relativity. Reading this summer, in Ann Hagedorn's ``Savage Peace,'' about the attempt by two teams to photograph the eclipse sparked my interest of taking impeded images of the sun. Everyone knows that it is harmful to gaze at the sun, but these pictures allow us to look as long as we want with no harm.
I would look at the sun just long enough to make sure it was centered in the viewfinder. Then I would look away immediately and snap the picture.
I took these pictures in the woods adjacent to Granby Heights, where I walk Grace. You can see the path in the bottom photo. Walking in these woods is not always fun; in the summer it is hot and there are often gnats and mosquitoes. In winter footsteps often sink deep in snow. Hoisting every step up gets tiring.

I screwed up my first post about the debate on how to pay for a new septic system at Granby Heights in Granby, Massachusetts. The 35-year-old septic system, which is already obviously incontinent, especially on hot days, could ``fail'' this year. A new one should be installed before the ground freezes, according to the engineering firm consulting with the Granby Heights Association.
Cost of the project has been estimated roughly at $1.2 million. There are 76 condos at Granby Heights.
Condo owners must vote whether to allow the condominium association to borrow money to replace the system. I used incorrect, second-hand information to say that if the association is not allowed to borrow, each of the condos would have to cough up a $16,000 ``assessment'' to cover the cost. I said wrongly that if the condo owners instead decide to let the association borrow, each condo would face a $100 monthly fee for the next 20 years.
In a May 13 memo, announcing a question-and-answer meeting at 7 p.m. May 21 at the West Street School, the association's Board of Directors does not specify assessment or fee levels. Assessments would be calculated ``proportionate to each owner's share in the Association,'' with a lump-sum payment up front.
The memo doesn't exactly specify who would make the calculations of proportionate financial responsibility -- board members, the association's property manager or banker?
It appears that the association's Board of Directors prefers assessments. Getting acceptable financing could be a difficult, if not insurmountable, ``burden'' -- it could be hard to get a bank to provide a financing package that the condo owners would accept.
The directors said that if residents vote to allow borrowing, it doesn't mean that the board will immediately turn around and shop for a loan. It would just allow the board to do so. ``Too many unknowns'' have to be clarified and too much research is left before the board can feel confident presenting condo owners with a financing package, the memo said.
A March 3 memo, circulated attached to the May 13 memo, addresses, implicitly, the national credit crunch. Even if condo owners vote to allow the association to borrow,

``there is no guarantee that a financial institution will offer to loan us the necessary funds on terms that are acceptable to the association.''

The board said it would not accept financing that would impede buying or selling of condos, and that it would schedule a meeting to talk about a financing package it obtains, if the association goes the borrowing route.
I see debilitating delays. According to the March 3 memo:
If residents vote to allow borrowing, the directors would establish a committee of condo owners, board members (same thing) and the association's finance director to

``explore financing options,'' such as ``conversations with banks and other lending organizations... possible grants, low-interest loans and other forms of assistance.''

The committee would also sound out a real estate lawyer. Sounds like a lot of work.
And then yet another committee would have to come up with a financing plan that would have to be passed by a majority of condo owners. (I rent here.)
The board recommends that condo owners get loans and pay their share of the septic-system cost up front. Doing so could get owners a tax break, depending on how they get their financing. It would ``remove the burden of borrowing from the Association...''

No Bail Out from This Financial Dilemma

We’ve got a bit of a problem at Granby Heights.
For years I assumed the odor was coming from one discrete cesspool, but, while walking my dog in the woods, I never did see a cesspool. It never occurred to me that the problem was bigger than that. Our septic system is a big one, and, as we’ve learned, it’s broken in several places. I’ve seen what looks like a manhole cover in the woods. The cover is caked brown and corroded and it’s propped a little sideways over a rim. But that could be part of a neighbor’s septic system because the dog path runs behind many houses on Route 116, and the nearest connection to the town sewer line is almost two miles away. That’s according to someone I talked to from SVE Associates, a firm that the Granby Heights Association has hired to help with the installation of a new system.
Enough of what I don’t know.
Residents of Granby Heights will have to choose -- not just for themselves, but for others -- whether the system will be replaced by having each of the 76 condos put out an all-at-once payment $16,000, or by having condo fees raised $100 a month for the next 20 years.
By asking us to make that choice, the Board is asking haves and have-nots to bicker about money, and then go on living together. I imagine that the have-nots are in the vast majority, and their votes will rule day, but it won’t dampen resentments stirred up during the debate.
And all this so we can poop in our own homes.
To say the least, the condo-fee option is more financially feasible to working families over the short term; over the long term, it adds $600,000 of principal to the cost of the project. I calculate that by the monthly condo-fee method, the new septic system will cost, before interest, $1.8 million. If everyone ponies up $16,000, it will cost $1.2 million.
The second scenario involves no interest, which means that as draconian as the $16,000 ``assessment’’ seems now, it will mean a savings of huge bucks over the long run.
Without the assessment, the association would have to take out a loan to pay for the work. To get authorization to borrow, the association needs a vote of at least two-thirds from condo owners. (I rent here.)
At any rate, on April 12 I put this on the MassLive.com Granby forum. I mentioned that the board has told us that the septic system is in imminent danger of failure. ``Then what? If it `fails,' will we be unable to take legally a dump?’’
Regarding the $16,000 assessment, I wrote,

``How do they expect anyone here to come up with that kind of money? And what happens if they don't get it? Will they throw those people out of the condos they own?’’

I said paying $100 a month is desirable because in 20 years, $100 will mean less, after inflation. What I failed to ponder was that the savings in this case may not equal $600,000 of principal, and the interest on that principal.

``Do you plan on living in Granby Heights 20 years from now?’’

I asked.
It wasn’t long before ``Nuts’’ wrote:

``Those were originally built as apartments and then they decided to sell them off as condos. If you wanted a real condo you should have purchased one at Pine Grove. The ole saying, pay me now or pay me later, applies here.''

To which, I replied:

``That's a `Nuts‘-y analysis. Actually, the fact that they were once apartments has nothing to do with it. The problem is that the place was open in 1973, and the kind of septic system it has now, which is smaller and much less expensive, no longer meets code. Hence we have to put in something more expensive.’’

Later the same day, MarkBail82 told me that he would post about the septic system problem on his blog. I replied and said that was OK by me.
Two days later I heard from ``bmax1390:’’

We have lived nearby for 12 years and every year the smell gets worse. We finally went to the board of health because the smell is sooo disgusting. We bought a house in Granby because we wanted fresh air and now every time it rains or it is humid out the smell is unbearable. I am sure it is a health issue for all of us living nearby. We don't even have family gatherings at our house in the summer because we are afraid they will smell the septic!!! IT NEEDS TO BE FIXED NOW not in the fall!!!

The gist of my replies to bmax1390 was that I doubt the new system will be installed in just a few months. ``It’s going to be a stinky summer,’’ I said in one message. ``We’ll see what the summer brings,’’ I said in another.
As of today, I have heard nothing more from Nuts.