· · Back porch, Two Rivers
Iron nail in the threshold
Pulled up the rotted board at the back door. Found an iron nail driven point-up into the sill beneath. Square-cut, hand-forged. Old.
Someone knew what they were doing. Iron at the threshold keeps things out—or keeps things in. Hard to say which this one was for.
I left it there. Drove the new board down over it. Some workings you don’t undo just because you found them.
Threads
iron threshold protection found old-house
From the Almanac
- Beltane
The May fire leaps. The hawthorn blooms. We step across the threshold into summer's country.
- The Hawthorn Threshold
On the may tree as gatekeeper, and what it means to pass through.