Water Break on the Lazy B

We watched the Super Bowl with friends last night. I don’t need to go on and on about it. It was just a football game – a good one. The best part was being with friends and cheering and razzing each other and being silly over something that really did not mean a thing to any of us. And the food was excellent. I made enchiladas. Janice made chili and seven-layer dip. We both made cookies. Yum!

The big news on the Lazy B this weekend was no water. Saturday afternoon after visiting the GGs, we came home to only a dribble. Thinking that it was probably frozen, we set up a heater – to no avail. Monday morning we talked to the rural water guys and figured out that the leak/break was somewhere on our property – darn it! Jesse and I went into town early this morning to workout and use the showers at the gym. Toby took a half-day and came home to look for the leak and hopefully fix it. We all got home around noon. Around here, it is kind of a "one for all and all for one" family. When Toby found the leak, Jesse and I pitched in to help him dig and fix the break. What a cold, muddy mess, but it did have its moments. Toby fired up Jesse’s motorcycle to ride back and forth the quarter of mile to the road where the water main turner offer/onner was located. He and Jes did have fun riding in the snow, but the funny part came when Toby rode out to the road to turn the water on. Jesse and I were supposed to watch for gurgling water. We did not get "the sign" down pat before he took off on the bike. You know, the sign that says "yes there is gurgle" or "no, there is no gurgle." Jesse and I got tickled thinking we should wave our arms, but what would that mean? We finally chose to just stand there and giggle.

Eventually, we did see gurgle and did quite a bit of digging to get to the leak. Oklahoma dirt is clay and a lot like glue. At one point, Toby left Jesse and I digging while he went to get something. Someway I stepped into the hole and sunk up to my knee. That left one leg up on the ledge and one in the hole. If you knew how short my legs were, you would probably say, "Well, Lou, that is not so far." But I was stuck and in a bad position and the mud was sucking my boot off when I tried to pull it out. I was not strong enough to get myself out of the hole. I begged Jesse to pull me out. She was willing, but was laughing way to hard to do much good. She finally sobered enough to pull me out, but now I had mud up my leg and butt.

After a few trips to the road to turn the water on and off, we figured out exactly where the leak was. Toby then had to go to town for the stuff to fix it. While he was gone, Jesse and I filled in part of the hole that we unnecessarily dug when Toby thought the leak was further over than it was (and yes we complained). Then we came in the house to warm up. The sad part about being covered in mud was we had no water to wash up. We just rested the best we could until Toby got back with the plumbing supplies. We went back out to help him cut and replace the pipe. It went fairly well, but my feet got cold. Cold like the days back in NM when you were so cold you wanted to cry – lots of memories there. Some are even blog-worthy.

Anyway, we have water. I have done the dishes. I am working on laundry, but not the mud clothes yet – saving them for last. I am sore from working out at the gym and from digging in the wet clay. But now I have some coffee and time to myself. I do like running water. It is right up there with heated water.