The Travails of October

(to the tune of The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald)

The legend will live on with the family & friends
Of a couple of green-horn house-buyers.
Old houses, it is said, can sure leave you dead
When maintenance needs really get dire.

With a baby on the way just any day
And a house full of dirt, dust & clutter,
As chaos goes, it was much worst than most
When the "travails of October" fell upon 'em.

Concluding some terms with a local banking firm,
They began to start packing for Maybee.
In the meantime the doc said 'twas time
For the birth of their second-born baby.

The boxes & books stacked high in each room
Around Wendy's blossoming belly.
When contractions began things began to look dim
And Joe felt his nerves turn to jelly.

The dawn came too soon on the day of the move
When the travails of October came slashin'.
But with the help of some brothers & sisters & such
The move was complete in a fashion.

Barely moved in & beginning to settle,
Sara & Joe were both smitten
With nasty sick symptoms all over the house
That I'm sure you'd rather not hear mentioned.

Close on the tail of their indisposition
Wendy said, "'Tis time for the baby."
Without much ado, in four hour's time
Came the birth of Rebecca of Maybee.

The day they returned from the hospital rest
Feeling great & delighting in their daughters,
The well pump went bad & they spent several days
Without any benefit of water.

Sitting at home with no way to do wash,
With diapers & urping of babies,
They began to itch fiercely & started to scratch
And found that they'd all gotten scabies.

The bad pump was fixed but the well had gone dry
So they had to resort to a cistern
And family & friends giving milk jugs & jars
Full of drinkable water to assist them.

When water was gotten & things looking normal
The washer got hooked up & could run.
It dumped all the water inside the bathroom
When the drainage proved false as it spun.

Does anyone know where the love of God goes
When deadlines turn days into hours?
Their helpers all know they'd have been goners for sure
Without them when the house deal went sour.

They might have gone mad or they might have given up;
They might have just tried to withdraw.
But the love kept them there & they're grateful to all
Of their friends, parents, siblings & in-laws!