Vital Water.

 The proverbial piping gets dug up.

Amazing how quickly one forgets. Water or rather not having any takes some getting used to. Be it for a few hours, days or god forbid, more. A decade ago Bob and I were getting to be at the top of our game when it came to preparing for the inevitable water disconnect. Yes, South Africa had many occasions where pipes were burst and without warning the water would be turned off.

One adjusts. Filling buckets of water and leaving them scattered around the house, never leaving a kettle empty ( did that this morning before going for a walk and now am sitting yearning for a cup of tea ) and flushing loos whenever possible. As I said, that was a decade ago and I am more than rusty in this water hoarding department.

So, I came home a moment ago from my walk and saw them working outside our house, digging up mounds of road in order to get to a dripping water pipe. Even before I asked about the chance that water was still flowing through these pipes, I knew. Actually the grin on our local water-czar gave it away.

No big deal but still, no shower, no chance to wash my hair and no chance to relax with a cup of tea. I remembered that Bob had left a crate of full water bottles in the shed ( leftover from last harvest ) and I quickly went to get one...only to realize that it was sparkling which might not go well with tea. Now I know why they are still in our shed.

At least they work quick and efficient when it comes to repairing pipes and I think the water should be back on before lunchtime. We are so used to merely turning our taps to get our water never even giving it a thought to where it comes from and how incredibly precious it is. Water is a finite product and this has reminded me to be a bit more careful and less wasteful with it.

Biggi