"Why Did A Piece Of The Church Fall Off?"

So I was asked by one of the students at Rumsey Hall School yesterday.  I suppose it could have looked that way to the untrained eye, but what was actually happening was yet another in the ongoing repairs to our venerable building. 

Last Saturday, when I was repositioning the flags on the front of the church, I noticed that the wood was terrifically rotten and that the decorative column was barely connected to the facade of the church building.  In layman's terms, that's not good.  Initially, I was worried that the entire column had interior rot as these things are generally the result of water seepage caused by poor flashing and caulking.

When I later learned that this specific area of the column had once been the home to a beehive, I felt a little more relieved.  Bee secretion is notoriously acidic, especially with wood.  Upon opening the column, we were happy to see it dry and sound, except for the affected area.

So, the column has been re-affixed to the building, the rotten wood removed and replaced, the equally rotten molding [which was the result of ill-placed flashing] is being artfully matched to that on the other column, and, as a bonus, the treacherous porch step on the rectory has been raised and straightened.

Not bad for five days, eh?