WATER IS LIFE
The gurgles and splutters coming from the kitchen faucet were welcome sounds at 01,00 this morning. I was unable to sleep and was watching the newest episode of ‘Wilsberg’ on my phone. It was quite an interesting episode as it dealt with the monitoring of people via video cameras all over a city in Germany and applying a social credit score to them.
‘We have water!’, I exclaimed to my son as I ran to the bathroom to check on the faucets and the previously collected water in the bathtub. He was fast asleep. The sounds and the resulting water emerging from the faucet were short lived. About two minutes. The initial excitement having been met with instant disappointment. Floating on top of the water were small pieces of debris from the pipes. I returned to my show, still unable to sleep.
About two hours later, more water sounds emerged. This time it was a steady trickle of water. I then decided to turn off all of the faucets and to try to get some sleep. My slumber lasted close to four hours. I ran to the kitchen to check on the water. It was still running. The first thing I did was to flush the toilet in the girls’ bathroom as that was least used. I then went to the kitchen and emptied both sink basins, cleaned them with Soft Scrub and filled one of the basins with hot water and soap so that I could soak some of the dishes which had collected on the countertops this past week. The water coming from the kitchen faucet was a mere trickle, but it was better than nothing.
The master bathroom toilet was next. It took several flushings, a plunger, and some bleach in the water tank to get that to a functioning state. Revolting but necessary. After that, I drained the tub and cleaned it with Soft Scrub before taking a long-awaited, hot shower. The water pressure in the bathroom was better than in the kitchen. I was grateful for any water at all as most of the apartments in the complex would not have water for several more days due to severely damaged pipes and resulting damage to the homes. So far, our building has been spared.
The rest of the day involved venturing outside with my son to find some food as it had been over a week since I had last been to a store. The roads were free from snow and ice. Absent were the lines at HEB that I saw in the news earlier in the week. The freezer and refrigerated sections of the store had some food. But no ice cream.
We returned home with fresh fruits and vegetables and finally had breakfast. Sunny-side up eggs with toasted bread and the most perfect avocado we had ever tasted. In the evening, we took a walk around the schools and watched as the sun dipped beneath the horizon.
It is fascinating to think how much of an impact clean water has on our lives. This past week has been quite challenging having to go without showers, being unable to wash our hands properly, and not having the water needed for everyday functioning of life. It is a privilege we often seem to take for granted. Until we lose it and realise that water is life.
