It was 9 p.m. and was just dark outside. The guard dogs, Chula and Chiquita, were barking from their kennels. I hurried to the front door, turned on all the porch lights, unlocked the door and stepped out on the porch with Opie. I thought I heard raindrops...but I didn't see any falling to the ground. I listened for a while and then with Opie to protect me, walked out to the gate. And there it was!!!!! Water spraying out of the ground. The spray was over my head!!! Someone had stolen my neighbors' water meters and copper tubing.
Well, we called Lupita, my neighbor and we had a pow wow at the gate as the water came up and up making the entrance to their houses into a river. The water dept would NOT come out at night so what could we do? We wedged some chunks of wood into the underground tube and it slowed the flow of water. Now the other neighbors with stolen copper tubing...yes, well you met them in the "two parades and a show". They came out to join us at my gate. We had done what we could so Lupita and I along with Opie went back inside.
Now the second phase of excitement began. The neighbor collected some of the same guys that make up the parade, plus a few more. They came on bikes, on foot, and in a beatup car and they "fixed" the water leak. They used an old coat hanger, a foot long piece of an old hose, some more chunks of wood and stone.....and reconnected their water supply!
My observation....well, they may not have much formal education, may not hardly any money.....but they make things work one way or the other!!! I wanted to take a picture but was afraid they would be angry....so you will just have to imagine green garden hose about 12 inches long stuck in the murky muddy water till it connected with the remaining pipe and then "tied" to the other half of the pipe going to the water supply with pieces of coat hanger and all of this held up with chunks of wood and stone! They had water.
Lupita had water too....mine. We fixed up a hose from my back patio, over the wall and through a small opening into her back patio and she filled her water tank with that!!!
Now the water pipes have been replaced with PVC pipe and my water meter will be locked in with security bars and a padlock sometime this afternoon. Soon, I will just have a security box made my size....everything else is already protected by cement block walls and burglar bars!!!
And the river....well, it will be around for a week or so till it all dries up (and mosquitos have a good chance to repopulate the area!)!!!!!!!
Maxie used to be a very active Mama poodle.....but for the last 6 weeks, she has been suffering from seizures. She looks at me with big brown eyes, asking me why she hurts....why she shivers and trembles, why she is afraid of noises and sudden movements, why she potties in the bed without even knowing it has happened. Then, sometimes Maxie seems to be almost back to her old self. She runs to the fence to greet the neighbor girls and asks for chicken drumstick treats and snuggles on a pile of pillows in bed with me. We sit in the rocker on the porch and she watches the world go by....not happy if another dog or cat walk by, happy when things are quiet and we can just rock as the sun goes down and the heat is less intense. I wish I could make Maxie feel better but I just hold her and hope she knows that I will take care of her and protect her as much as possible. If God cares for the sparrows, so tiny and so nondescript, will He not care for my little Maxie?
