The Warning Shot

The Warning Shot
Tuesday, July 2, 2024 by Phyllis Smith Kester

A young mother playing piano as her 10-month old son plays near her. This 1950 Baldwin Acrosonic piano has many stories to tell. They range from how I suddenly needed to practice when—as a child—it was time to wash the dishes, to when my sons were small and I would practice. My elder son would come to help me by plinking on some keys and singing. He thought you were supposed to sing whenever around the piano. However, my favorite piano story happened in South Texas after we had moved there in 1975.

An 11-month old boy happily singing as he stands by the piano bench.

We discovered that home builders—at least in the Houston area where we lived—didn’t seem to think the weather would get cold enough in their mild climate to worry about insulating water lines. We were amazed to see some water lines exit the ground outside the home and travel through the air—on the outside of the house—to where they were needed in the house. Another approach was to bring the water line into the attic above the living space so the water could travel through the ceiling above the living space to wherever it was needed because—so the thinking went—the heat rising from the living space would keep the water lines from freezing if the temperature happened to get that cold. Our house was the latter type. However, it didn’t work a few times, and we had to wait until the pipes thawed before we had water in the kitchen.

One particular winter morning, the water line crossing above the living room to the kitchen gave a loud, resounding bang like a gunshot. I dashed to the kitchen to see what had happened. Water was gushing through the vent above my cooking stove. That was also the location of a pass-through to the dining/living room. In a panic, I grabbed a giant pan to catch the water. Then I realized my piano was only a few inches from where all the water poured from the attic.

“No, not my piano!” I shrieked as I grabbed it and pulled it to the center of the living room, fearing water or the ceiling would come down on it.

Two pre-school boys dressed in their Sunday best standing in front of an ornate piano with one wearing his father's graduation cap.

As I scrambled with pans catching water, someone located the unique tool for turning off the water at the city meter. So, after a short, frantic time, the water ceased pouring through the kitchen exhaust vent.

Soon, we discovered that the frozen water line in the attic had popped a single hole that shot the water in an arc straight into the exhaust vent. It hadn’t done any other damage. As a string of maintenance specialists and inspectors were leaving, I stopped two muscular-looking young men. I asked if they would mind helping me push the piano back across the floor to the wall now that all was safe.

They cheerfully agreed, and the three of us huffed and puffed to return the heavy piano about 12 feet across the carpet to the wall. Then one turned to me, looked me up and down, and asked, “Are you sure you moved this piano that far by yourself?” Laughing, I replied, “You never know what you can do when that adrenaline rush hits.” They were still chuckling as they walked out the door, shaking their heads in disbelief.

That unexpected shot of water into my stove’s exhaust vent was like a shot across the bow to warn us about the vulnerability of our pipes in the attic. However, thinking back on it now, it shows me how the responses to the Covid pandemic may have also been our warning shot regarding some vulnerabilities. I pray we all realize, as Monty and I did regarding our water crisis, that it takes a team effort. Some have to take “immediate preventive” measures (as I grabbed my water catchers and moved the piano), while others have to stop the problem “at the source” (like turning the water off to prevent it from reaching our house). It has to be a team effort, directed by God—who undoubtedly enabled me—about a 130-pound young mother—to move a 400-pound piano about 12 feet across the carpeted room.

“But they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31 ESV)

Share This Blog: