I screwed in the last of the numbers, the 5 and the 0 went over the old numbers. They might say nothing to anyone else, but they spoke quite loudly to me, as numbers on houses do.

What do they say?

The  numbers say that this house is as old as it is loved. It has been housing and shelter human beings almost since the country was born. Well before the Civil War. Th numbers say the house is proud, and the house is loved and will be cared for.

The numbers say they are content, they look out on newly planted Maple trees, Lilac bushes, Magnolias, white birch trees. Three gardens wrap right about where they shine. A barn cat lives on the porch beneath, them, sometimes under the porch below. Hummingbirds zip around the feeders.

The new numbers say the people inside care about it, they care about the small things as well as the big things. The new numbers give the house a new cap, a shiny calling card. A kind of greeting. They say the people living in it will never stop loving it.

Sheep and a pony graze comfortably in view, the hills across the road shine in the afternoon sun, they light up the brass numbers. The numbers shine, they say the house has a new life, and a good and full life, just like the people who live inside of it, and have for more than 200 years.

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The old numbers are shown in a photograph below.