Taking Shelter

This little building, just outside our backdoor, hides an underground space where we say we will take shelter if there's a tornado.  The spring winds have been so strong that Brandon made sure to clear a path through the items we have stored in there, just in case we need to make a quick dash for safety.  

You first, Wendigo.  She sniffs the air right at the entrance, but doesn't go all the way inside.  The walls of the shed have gaps, and wasps build their nests in the ceiling, and giant black rat snakes shed their skin against our stored lawn chairs.  

Boo!  Once you enter the tiny wooden shed, there is a steep and dank stairwell that leads down into the underground space.  And there's a creepy woman sculpture down there!  Brandon rescued her from a sculpture friends collection, and several years ago Jamie put her down in the cellar so she can scare us when we open the door.  She's been down there in the dark ever since.

Her arm is raised like she is shying from the sunlight from the open door.  You can see the underground room is round, and the domed ceiling is higher than I can touch.  Someone told me that if we were to be accused of a crime, and the jury saw our creepy lady trapped in the underground bunker, they would assume we were guilty, because only people up to no good would have such a thing.  Ha!  

The floor is solid, and has a thin layer of damp mud.  It's so humid in there that the dead spiders that hang from webs grow fuzzy with white mold.  The fuzzy spiders also cast giant shadows on the walls when you enter with a flashlight.  I really hope we don't have to take shelter down there, but it's nice to know we have at least one place to go that can't be blown away by a twister.   I'm sure the rickety old shed would collapse over the stairs, and we would be trapped!  If I disappear after a big storm, please come get me out of that creepy place.  

From the round cement wall come this strange assemblage of pipes.  We aren't sure what this round underground room was built for, but my guess is that it used to house a pump to push water from the nearby well, or from the nearby cistern, which could collect water from the roof of the house.  If the pump was stored underground, it wouldn't freeze in the winter.  Other guesses for this room have been an ice house, a cheese house, and a root cellar.  I think the humidity would be great for storing roots and fruits, but not so great for storing things in jars or bottles.  I daydream of white washing the walls, installing some lights, covering the muddy floor with gravel, and storing crates of homegrown pears and potatoes all through the winter.  

From the bottom of the stairs you can look up into the shed.  Even during the day, it's a little spooky in there.  The door usually swings closed when I don't want it to, and then I'm inside, in the dark, with the fuzzy spiders, snake skins, and creepy lady.  It's hard not to overreact.  Let me out of here!  

The shed door is two steps from the backdoor of the house that enters into the bathroom.  The shed is a handy place to store things, including the extra buckets and bags of sawdust and wood chips that we need for our composting toilet system.