Free to move about the cabin

I started this post thinking I'd relate it to the last and write about devolution. Then I realized that young Gregor didn't really devolve; he merely changed. And anyway, it turns out what I really want to discuss is demolition.

We can all agree that the act of building is positive. New structures, new ideas, new companies, new relationships: all good, good, good, good!

I maintain, though, that the opposite -- demolition -- can be equally good.

Say you have a house that begins to deteriorate. You ignore its problems until one day you can't: A window won't open, a door won't shut, the driving rain comes gushing across the threshold. You find you can no longer live comfortably in this house.

You consult with various experts and learn that no amount of tinkering or reinforcing will make this house livable again. Your only recourse is to tear the thing down.

So, you go about tearing it down. If you're smart, you'll do it with care. You'll disassemble it piece by piece, examining whether the foundation faltered, where the cracks first appeared. And if you're lucky, you'll find that the basic materials were solid, the blueprints were first-rate, the builders capable. Perhaps you'll find that your house started to crumble for no reason other than a shifting of soil.

If you do find this to be so, you can take the easy route and cart everything off to the landfill. Or, if you have a little patience and foresight, you can chuck the rain-rotted wood, save what's salvageable and rebuild on stable ground.

What you do in a situation like this depends on your time, resources and disposition. I think I'll take the latter approach.