NO WATER

Another dusting of snow fell this morning. But it did not last too long. What was once a pleasant novelty is now something we wish would simply go away. The faucet water is all gone. Not even a trickle. We now rely on the water gathered in the bathtub, in pots in the kitchen, and what little drinking water we have left. At -4 degrees Celsius, the continuing freezing temperatures are making things more difficult.

After breakfast, I decided to venture outside to start the car again and to get the coveted plastic container of water that was in the middle section of the minivan. Remembering the icy fall from earlier in the week, I was well aware of how slippery the roads would still be. As I ventured across the parking lot, the snow and ice underneath shattered. It was incredibly slippery and felt as if I was walking on glass.

Once the car had warmed up for ten minutes, I turned it off and slowly made my way home with the 2.5 gallon container of water, which was now a frozen block of ice. I put it inside my Trader Joe’s cloth tote bag and carried it across the parking lot and up the stairs to the third floor. One careful step at a time.

Seeing how we still had a pile of snow in the breezeway outside our doors, I decided to gather a large pot of snow to boil it for washing dishes. The pot was filled to the top but the amount of water left in the pot was barely enough to wash two plates. I gave up that idea immediately and decided to simply wait for the water to return.

As I listened to the maintenance woman on the other end of the phone line tell me that they do not anticipate water to be restored for another week as they are still waiting on plumbers, I felt an overwhelming anger within me. It’s the feeling we experience when we are helpless. When there is nothing we are able to do but wait. In the meantime, I called the real estate company who owns the apartment complex and let them know that management should be more forthcoming with information in a timely manner and should at least clear and salt the walkways and stairs.

Despite the freezing weather and no water, I am glad we still have a heated home and are able to cook and bake. Life goes on the best way it can. I still had my Zoom interview in the afternoon which had been rescheduled from earlier in the week due to the power outages. The interview lasted less than eight minutes but I remained hopeful.

I used my afternoon to make yoghurt flatbreads for an early dinner and later watched a few episodes of ‘Bez Servitky’ with my son. We might not understand everything that was being said on the show but at least we spent some time together.