A New Water Feature

 

I had just moved into a different house.    It was a house with a few needed repairs which the landlords were less concerned about as soon as I moved in.    But… it was home.  This fixer-upper did have new paint, a new toilet & … new sounds.    One morning, I suddenly awoke thinking “Ahhh?  That’s not rain I’ve been listening to.”    Sure enough, the “rain” was pouring off my roof.  Having experienced this in other houses, I knew it was the tinaco (water tank) on the roof overflowing.    So, I got dressed & went out to turn off the water at the street.    I wandered the yard, got sandy slippers & drew blood hitting my head on a tree branch (no glasses & still dark) only to find that this house didn’t have a street level meter & shut off tap.    Huh… Now what?    Not only was it wasting water but the water was now covering my kitchen floor.    But, who does one call for help at 6:45 on a Sunday morning?    I called my Mexican brother who often does repairs.    Ah, but he’s been known to not hear his alarm clock so it was no surprise he didn’t answer.    So, I messaged my friend, Keka and she told me where there’s a shutoff tap on the side of the house.    Great! …   I passed through the waterfall coming off my roof only to discover that the tap, also in the waterfall zone refused to move.    So, I passed through the waterfall again to get a pair of pliers & back through the waterfall to try again.    Nope.    I came back into the house, now thoroughly drenched, and it’s at this point I cracked.    Mopping the kitchen floor with more vigor than necessary, I said out loud, really loud in a rather unhappy tone “I hate it here… I hate being alone… I hate not being able to take care of myself…”    And I melted into a chair in tears.    Then there was a knock at my door.    Keka had sent her husband to rescue me.    And after a bit of a struggle, he emerged just as wet as I was but victorious.

 

We laughed about this the other evening.    Those sentiments of that day were for me honest words in the moment, feeling overwhelmed by something pretty minor.    And you know, God listens to our cries with compassion… but he doesn’t want us to stay in despair.    Looking back, that frustrating challenge to my control of my circumstances is now a cherished adventure shared with friends. 

 

Oh and that waterfall had better water pressure than my inside shower – should have washed my hair!