Wood Tells Us

Natural things are better. Our house is brick and cedar. I've noticed that the cedar by the roof (Facia) had been looking pretty rough in spots lately. After investigating, I determined that moisture had been getting in from under the bottom row of shingles, and keeping the cedar wet. No real leaks, but definitely a requirement for replacing some rotted wood. I also wanted to prevent the same problem in the future, so I bought a membrane-type flashing like ice shield, and installed it all along the roof.
So back to the lead-in, I'm thinking about how vinyl fascia and siding doesn't rot or wear. Which is good, until you think about how rotting and wearing is a sign. So vinyl siding leaves no sign. And without a sign, I fear the problem would grow into a mold/mildew problem.
Maybe I'm just anti-new construction.
But thinking about it, all natural things show signs. Wear. Rot. Problems. But that doesn't make them bad, it helps prevent bigger problems. And tying it back to Alison, if your body is showing you a sign, either pain, changes, or wear, prevent a bigger problem by acting on it. Last year Alison and I potentially saved her life by insisting that there was something wrong with her neck. The nurses thought she'd bumped it, or was bruising, but we knew something was wrong. As it turned out, her port created a blood clot in her internal jugular. Left untreated, it could have created an aneurysm or even death.
I'm not sure of my point, but I'm compelled to encourage you to listen to the signals.