A Lazy Rainy Sunday Afternoon

We had a drought. Yes, there are places in the world dealing with severe droughts much more worthy of concern than ours, true. But on the West Coast we are notorious for our rain accumulations, so when nothing happens for over three months, it makes the news.

Salmon had to be transported to rivers and lakes with higher water levels so they could spawn properly, and in some areas, outside plant-watering was banned. Although thankful for a reprieve from sleeping with our umbrellas like we usually do starting beginning of September, we were getting kinda worried. Where records are usually made for the most amount of rain fallen, this time records were made for the least amount of rain. It was the talk of the town.

I love the rain, and was beginning to miss it. Autumn is not autumn without rain, and my favorite season was becoming a bit of a downer. I dusted off my dancing shoes to gear up for a rain dance; I needed a bit of water to set the ambiance for the season. I shouldn’t complain as we were blessed with nice weather longer than usual, and more rain than we need would come eventually.

So when weather reports warned us to expect rain, it showed up right on time one mid-October weekend. And rain, it did. Drains couldn’t keep up, our dry, cracked lawns couldn’t soak it up fast enough, and we couldn’t dust off our umbrellas quick enough. There were mini-floods and puddles everywhere. Local ponds filled, luring the ducks back for a swim. But that didn’t stop folks heading out for a walk – everyone was thankful for water.

It was no surprise that after two days of rain, I noticed our usually dry front walk leading up to our house was a bit flooded, despite being covered by the eaves. Okay, so it wasn’t normal, but hey, it was raining, the first in almost three months. Maybe our gutters couldn’t keep up somewhere, I thought. Fine, I shrugged. It’s just water.

So off I dragged my lazy self to get the never-ending laundry done.

Clothes were sorted, and detergent was administered, and I was just reaching for the start button when I heard it.

The hypnotic, yet torturous, drip, drip, drip. It only took me a minute to realize it was coming from the faucets and drainage pipes leading from the wall to my washing machine. Then I noticed all the water on the floor behind the washing machine. And THEN I noticed water bubbling under the paint around the faucets on the wall.

OH my GOD.

Okay, Lisa, calm down. Show the husband later, then call landlord. For now, the right thing to do is to leave the laundry alone (yay!), and go eat some cake.

By the time I showed him, more paint had bubbled on the walls in the laundry area as well as on the walls in the neighbouring bathroom. I called the landlord in a panic, and he later discovered a leaky pipe in the walls in the garage right above the laundry room (hence the water outside, as well), with the water making its way down inside the walls. This time I panicked that I wouldn’t be able to do laundry, never mind that we might not be able to have showers. In the end we determined our ability to clean everything and every body wouldn’t be affected; it was a different pipe altogether. Thank God.

After cutting a few lovely holes in the ceiling of our bathroom, as well as in our laundry room to help dry out the affected drywall, the landlord left with the instructions that the walls would have to dry for a week before the plumber could work his magic. Aside from the holes being an eyesore and an inconvenience (my washing machine is in the middle of the floor), it could have been a lot worse.

I always try to find something good out of something bad. At least I caught it in time so we didn’t wake at 3 in the morning to collapsing water-logged drywall and plaster from the bathroom ceiling, AND we still got to have laundry and showers. And aside from the fact that the landlord saw how disgusting it was behind my washer and dryer, an area I was determined all summer to get around to cleaning but never did, at least I could now I could do it.

Through it all, I learned to be careful what I wish for – that wasn’t the kind of water I was hoping for. Guess my rain dance got a little misinterpreted.