An average bathroom can be hustled out the door in minutes. A manufactured home bathroom dismantles even quicker, but the spectacle is compromised by the adjacent hours spent pulling staples, patching out the drywall and subfloor for new plumbing, wiring, blocking, as well as a small time-capsule for the next poor sod having to gut all my work. All remodeling jobs are gestures to the future, some more well-considered than others. Someone left me a paper valentine heart, in a wetwall stud bay, unsigned except for some basic carpenter arithmetic. I thought about leaving it in place, but instead will probably leave a small 5×7 print of this sad blue cactus instead. A staunch survivor of me for almost 23 years, and unlikely to be the only victim of this remodel.
