WITHOUT WATER

The neighbour came over this afternoon to notify me of an issue that could escalate into a much bigger problem. Half of his front yard was flooded with water having spilled into the street. He showed me the water meter and let me know that it has been running as such since perhaps earlier in the week.

I could already see the enormous water bill in my head and ran inside to call the landlord. He was on his way, he informed me, but it would take him at least an hour as he battled the late afternoon traffic from south Austin. In the meantime, he called plumbers to set up a time to take a look at the potential source of the leak. He also walked me through the process of turning off the main water supply to the house.

We were now without water and the experience was enlightening. Before I shut off the water supply to the house, I filled up whatever bowls and cups I could find that were not packed away and filled them with water to use overnight as there would be no water until early morning when the landlord would return to turn it on briefly so we could get ready for the day.

The children played outside, drawing on the driveway with their new colourful sidewalk chalk, until the landlord arrived close to two hours later. Austin traffic is not fun at all and something I keep in mind when searching for a job location. The plumber would not arrive until late morning so the landlord took it upon himself to investigate the source of the leak. He left after two or three hours as it was too dark to see anything.

After he first arrived, he turned on the water for half an hour so we could do what we needed to do before bedtime. I hurried the children through a simple penne pasta dinner and had them wash up both before and afterwards then brush their teeth before settling into bed for the night. It is astounding to think how much we take for granted the clean running water we have on a daily basis until we lose it and how thankful we should be every day for a need so basic to our survival.