[Artemisia] A New Discussion - Cellars

[Richard Samul]

On Sep 20, 2010, at 3:27 PM, Jackman-Brink, Julia wrote:

> Serious snippage occurring...
>
> Earc wrote: "There's a reason root cellars and storage rooms are below
> ground, folks."
>
> Something to remember, root cellars are really only usable in certain
> climates. If you dig a hole in the South, you will get water and all
> sorts of natural bacteria/critters joining you.  That's why there are
> more above ground cemeteries and very few basements in that region.

Well, yes. This goes back to the drinking water/well discussion  
earlier. High water table means easy to access water, and no below  
ground living/storage.

On the other hand, when my wife's grandmother passed away a few years  
ago, we cleaned out her house in Hailey. Heat in that house was from a  
central fireplace. There were shelves upon shelves of canned fruit  
down in the basement, some labeled from the mid-70's. Scary.

This brings up another subject though - burial. Without a modern  
funeral home (which relies on electric pumps to embalm a body, and  
refrigeration to keep the body until the service), it becomes almost a  
matter of necessity to remove the deceased quickly and efficiently to  
prevent disease and vermin. Gruesome to consider, but an unavoidable  
fact of life.

-- 
Earc