Yesterday morning, it was below freezing in Midland. MLH went out back to turn on the water to fill up Zack the Wonder Dog’s bowl…and the water was frozen.
We both worked late, with MLH getting home a little before me. He opened the gate to greet Zack, and found the back yard had turned into a swimming pool. Apparently, he had not completely turned off the faucet, and once it warmed up enough to thaw out, the flooding began.
Thank God for the neighbor (whoever you are) who trekked into our back yard and turned off the faucet. I bet your shoes are muddy, neighbor! And Zack the Wonder Dog – well, he is another shade of brown.
We were going out to supper with Younger Son (after MLH got Zack cleaned up and settled). MLH walked in front of us to open the door for us, and we cracked up! There were two huge muddy pawprints on the back of MLH’s pretty new sweater.
MLH said, “What? What is it?”
Well, we couldn’t let him go out like that, could we?
It’s never boring around here.
Not ever.
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4 comments:
You may have answered a mildly perplexing question that has hung in the back of my mind for several years.
During one atypical cold snap, before MLB and I moved to the new house, we had a rear-entry driveway. I arrived home from work one afternoon to find that a lot of water running down the alley, originating from the back yard of the house opposite ours. When I got out of the car, I thought I heard water running--gushing, really--so I followed my ears. Sure enough, the noise was coming from the neighbors' yard, and when I peeked through a knot hole in the privacy fence I could see that the spigot was running all out.
Now, the neighborly thing would have been to go into the back yard and turn off the faucet, but there were overriding factors.
First, these were not very neighborly neighbors. They'd already backed through our fence twice. The second time, it was the car of a guest whose conscience prompted her to fess up and who told us that the neighbors had advised her to just not say anything because we wouldn't be able to prove they'd done the damage. We were not on good terms.
Second (and more importantly), they had a very large, rather vicious German shepherd dog. At least, I assumed it was vicious, having overheard the unloving way the neighbors spoke to it. No way was I venturing into the yard.
I tried ringing the doorbell and calling, but neither was answered. In the end, I called the police and the water company, thinking that between the two of them they'd be able to get the problem sorted out without my being arrested or bitten.
I always figured driving off and leaving the tap on was just another sign of these folks' stupidity, but now that I've heard your story I guess I have to cut them a little slack!
Foo - now I'm even more so grateful for our neighbors! And I hope they all cut us some slack, because...well, we just need it and will take all we can get! They all know Zack will just lick them to death, so there was no danger there.
On the other hand, do you live in Midland? Maybe we are neighbors!
We've had a fence incident, as well - but it was MLB, backing into the corner of our neighbors's fence. And we confessed, then took him to supper. Now our neighbor's going to get a new fence, like ours, which is a good thing - and we're paying the side closest to our driveway. (Matter of fact, MLH is going to help him build it, since MLH built ours, and the neighbor likes it.)
Thanks for understanding - and making me totally appreciate my neighbors!! :)
Foo, you're a lot nicer than I am though I too would have rang their bell. But I tend to be a bit more confrontational when it comes to someone destroying my property and not having the integrity to "fess up" I'm a firm believer in "You reap what you sow" having learned valuable lessons from the hard end of that equation so a part of me would be saying "Ha Ha" regarding the neighbors water.
Janie, I remember as a child my dad leaving the water sprinkler on one night during a rare freeze in San Antonio. It iced up the tree till it split in half from the weight. Good neighbors are a blessing for sure. I kinda like my 80 acres cause I don't have to worry about mine but there can be times when a good neighbor is invaluable.
Amen to that. We've really enjoyed the new neighborhood, because the people are more like we are and less like the ones on My Name Is Earl. If you know what I mean.
My wife can't walk and uses a wheelchair to get around. She's very mobile--sometimes to the point where I threaten to put a "boot" on her wheel--but occasionally needs a hand. I like knowing that if my wife needs anything during the day or has a problem with the house, she can call on one of our neighbors to help.
I attribute a lot of the difference to the fact that all the houses on our side of the cul de sac have the driveways in the front, so people come out of their houses to socialize and watch the kids play. I've come to believe that privacy fences are bad for neighborhoods, but that's a whole 'nother post. =)
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