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Not the kind that you see in these two photos from last spring, although we are having plenty of rain, here in Trasulfe. Cold, windy rain. (And, it being mid-May, forgetting the fickleness of Galician weather, I packed summer clothes.) Right now, I haven't had time to take new pictures, but this is what Galicia looks like — only moreso!
No, the water I am celebrating is the water tanked into our village that allows for cooking and bathing. Like — the water system. When we arrived Tuesday, the tank was empty and we were lugging 3-liter bottles of water from the grocery stores for two days. Then we gave into the situation and have been staying at a casa rural for three days. Lovely, but not our "home away from home". You can read more about it in the Facebook posting I've copied:
"The continuing saga of the village water: So we booked rooms at Torre Vilariño for Thursday and Friday nights, right? Possibly for the whole week-end, too, we told them, since we didn't know how long the problem would last. Friday a.m. we drove back to our village (Trasulfe), and lo and behold, we had water! What a thrill. We called Torre and said, no, no need for the week-end. (We were worried they might lose another booking from saving the room for us.) Then we went out to get a bite to eat.
"On return, bad news: The water was gone again. Called Torre to say, "Yes, we need the room this week-end," because by now it was Friday afternoon, the problem not solved, and the workmen wouldn't be working on it over the week-end. Then we talked to our new neighbors down the lane. The workmen there were working on it, lifting manhole covers in the road, turning metered faucets on, etc., to no avail. In the meantime, they had managed to turn off Eva & Manolo's water — two of our neighbors who did have water until that point.
"More tinkering, with conflicting explanations of what had happened: Explanation #1: It was the incline of the land, given that the water is pumped in from a place near Escairon. (But the land has always been sloped before, right?) Explanation #2, the tank that serves the community was empty. Possible. (But why?) Just as we were about to leave to go back to Torre, everything started working again: We tested the faucets in our house. We had water. But, could we trust this?
"We compromised and called Torre: We only needed the room for Saturday night. (We weren't sure that we did, but they'd been so flexible with us, we thought we should show up for at least part of the booking, and, if the water conked out again, we could always rough it out one more day and then go to the town hall Monday to complain.
"So, this morning we came home (although we are going back tonight) and checked everything out: YES! We have water! The whole village has water! Including Manolo and Eva! All fixed. New explanation: the tank that serves the community had become clogged from debris, etc., that somehow fell into the tank. They had to clean it out. Ah well, such is life and its little surprises. We had planned to go to the wine festival in Ferreira today, but the weather is cold and rainy and windy, and it feels good to stay home and nap and then meet friends at Torre for dinner on our last evening their. Alls well that ends well.
"How about you? Have you ever gone off for a vacation and found big surprises waiting for you?
Celebrate the Small Things is a blog hop co-hosted by Lexa Cain at: Lexa Cain, L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge , and Tonja Drecker @ Tidbits Blog. (You can go to any of these sites to add your name to the links, if you want to participate. )
10 comments:
Oh my goodness, not knowing from one minute to the next whether you have water must be stressful. Glad it's on, hope it stays for you.
That's a little too much excitement for your travels, I think. Glad everything was resolved. Enjoy your time in Spain.
Thanks, Suzanne. Fingers crossed! So far, so good. It definitely has been an adventure. Have a good day.
Thanks, Rosi. These adventures always have a positive aspect. We got to know our new neighbors better, and we got to know the folks at Torre Villain better, too. Glad to have water again, though, for sure!
Yay to having water! Lol! Yeah, we've had our share of experiences. I think that's a given when one visits more 'off the trodden path' areas. The problems are frustrating at the time, but end up supplying the most amazing memories and stories. May the water stay with you!
I agree, T., frustrating at first, but always opening up new avenues and creating interesting memories. Despite the jolt of our first few days, we absolutely love being here.
I take water for granted until it suddenly disappears. Then it's an emergency! Bet you'll never look at water the same way again. Good news is you had a great visit otherwise. Hope that was the end of your troubles.
You are so right, Sharon! Even when you think you are being fairly frugal with water, you soon learn you weren't when you don't have any. I have a deep appreciation for water after this experience (and an earlier one a few years ago as well.) We are looking into the condition of the well in our field below. It's always handy to have a functioning well!
We tend to take water for granted. Living in Ecuador for two years, we learned to be more frugal with it in daily life and strive to continue now that we are back in the states.
Hello, Donna, Yes, that is so true. We do take water for granted in the States. You never realize how much you need water until you don't have it. And even when you think you are being frugal, one day with no water at all brings home what frugality really means. Thanks for stopping by. Have a good week-end.
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