Water Geyser!

 Water Geyser!

 

Patty called and told me that her friend Debbie believed we had sewer water spraying out onto Kemp Street. Nope. A water line must have burst for some reason. And now our water is turned off. A tractor with a backhoe digger on it is now blocking our street. Such fun. Have several bottles of water and two or three cases here in the living room, so it’s not like we will go thirsty. Meant to fill the bathtub for use in the bathroom, but got busy and forgot to fill the tub up. Oh well. Brought a couple of buckets inside after realizing the water had been turned off. Just hoping that they can repair this line this evening. The tractor motor is running, and you can almost bet that thing has air conditioning. That man could not stay out in this heat otherwise.

 

Cari Guidry’s mom brought two cantaloupe and two melons to my hens, so they have made out like fat rats today! They had tomatoes and corn on the cob. Even had a few grapes to give them! It really is neat to not waste food when the hens will eat it. While a squishy tomato might not appeal to us, the hens seem to be quite eager to peck those suckers into bright red pieces. They never leave any on the ground.

 

My house was pretty cool this morning. Stephen told me to leave the ACs all running so that they would have a head start on the heat. It worked. His sweet wife Nikki called this morning to ask if she and Tim could help put in another unit if needed. Don’t think it will really be necessary if this business of running them 24 hours a day continues to work. Know that is going to make for a bodacious bill, but dying in the heat is not exactly a good alternative.

 

Have been reading the notes from a lady in the Wildness group. She and her friend bought some land in Alaska and plan to live there eventually. The description of this last trip just about made me laugh and almost cry for her. Their ability to keep a running vehicle did not sound too promising. And then there was a view to show her everything around her—and suddenly realizing that a bear could see her just as easily as she could see a bear! Wild things in Alaska. Still less dangerous than anything outback in Australia, New Zealand, or other parts of that snake ridden part of the world. We just have rattlesnakes, water moccasin, copperheads, a few vipers of varying degrees of venomous, and about a hundred varieties of spiders. They have all the spiders, deadly kangaroos, big, flightless birds called cassowaries, ostriches, wallabies, platypus, and a significant collection of water species which will kill a person or make ‘em wish they were dead. Think Texas may be pretty rough, but will stay here and face tornadoes, droughts, wild fires, wild boars, coyotes, cougars, and the assorted pistol packing dipstick who drives down the freeways with his gun hanging out the window. (Not lately, just a few crazy people out there with the backs of their trucks filled with people going somewhere . . .)

 

A truck has pulled up down at the end of the lane. Certainly hope that they are there to fix the leak and turn the water back on. Not much we can do or say about it. That was a big hole in the side of the road. Some company has been drilling long holes under the streets to put in plastic pipes so they can run electric wires and phone wires underground. Just utilized my walking sticks and made my way down that hot road. One of the men said it would probably be about an hour before they could turn the water back on. One kid was head to toe mud pies, and another man was down in that hole so deep that he had to stand up for his hat to show. They are trying to put on a sleeve looking thing that is called a power plug or something like that. The young man said that the pipes are so very old that they just crack open and blow out water. This entire town needs to have the water pipes replaced! But you can bet that it would take a catastrophe for that to ever happen.

 

My oldest child sent a funny this morning: Imagine if sex sounded like pushing a straw in and out of a fountain drink cup. Now that is a bit raunchy in a way, but it still amused me. Read that to Patty and she had trouble breathing for laughing. She said, “It’s not even seven o’clock and she is thinking already! Now I will never do that again without thinking about that!” Was working here in the kitchen when it finally dawned on me that she was referring to the straw. Sigh Some of us are just a wee bit slow!

 

Between the horrible weather, the droughts, the fires, and the loss of milkweed plants for various reasons, the monarch butterflies are now considered endangered. Plan to send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to Live Monarch Foundation, PO Box 1339, Blairsville, GA 30514. They will send me some milkweed seeds that are the kind that will grow in this area. Maybe a few plants out front and a few out back might help the flutterbys. Granddad Pollard called them flutterbys. That is what they were called when he was a boy. Pretty good description for all kinds of flutterbys.

 

Wish we could get one of those special rains that last for three days and fill up the stock tanks and water every creek and river out there. It would not bother me to pick up floating hens out of the yard or something. And you can bet the wild ducks would be back up here waiting for handouts! But the doves would also show up for grain or mash if it is available. Wonder if the hens would find it if it were hidden inside the main coop. For sure the doves would find it!!

 

Water has been returned to full flow! Yay! Like a lot of things we take for granted, water is just about the most necessary thing around. Can live without my lights or even the computer or phone, but that water needs to be there. When the tornado hit in ’79, we had zero utilities for over a week. We had to go get water up at the old Albertsons building (it was not old back then), and we could get food from a truck that was sent in by McDonalds. It was a life saver. No gas with which to cook. At least the weather was not terribly hot as it was April. Just know for a fact that the water mattered more than anything to us.

 

Jennifer just sent me a picture of a house on fire about three blocks from them. Then someone here on FB showed another fire here in WF. We just need to pray for rain!

 

Let us pray that the people who had to escape from the Ukraine will be able to return to their homes eventually. Let us pray that they can overcome all the attacks from Russia and get their port open so they can export the grain that keeps so many people fed in that part of the world. Eventually someone is going to have to take over the government of Russia and let the people learn how to grow and build for their own country without wars!

 

Let us remember to ask for God’s peace for this world. We know that someday in the future, every knee will bend and every head will bow when His government comes to this world. May He forgive us for the petty things we care about and help us to have His vision and spirit.

 

Rest well and keep a positive outlook. You are loved.