Day 13: Stay Patient

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Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Day 13 of Quarantine: Total cases (US): 123578 Total deaths(US): 2221

Before I explain what these images are, feel free to use your imagination as yesterday was an eventful day.

A couple of months ago, we noticed the electric bill had increased and ever since then we have been keeping our eyes out for anything plugged in or using excessive energy. My mom figured it was a leak in a spigot by our garden so my dad capped it a few months ago. The electric bill did not go down and when we walked by it the other day we noticed more water. Since dad is home, he thought he would go address the problem. It was very cold today and the suspected leak was in the shade so he pulled on his snowsuit (soon to be mud suit) and headed out with a shovel. Little did he know that he would be needing a vacuum, tractor, many tools, plumbing parts, and more.

I do not fully understand the problem because I am not a plumber but here is my understanding. There was a leak in one of our pipes that we originally thought was just the frost-free hydrant. We had to turn our house's water off which means you could not wash your hands and try to protect yourself from Coronavirus. After running to Ace Hardware around noon and continuing to dig, there was a very large hole in the ground, probably 6 feet deep. The leak did not end up coming from the suspected pipe so Dad had to dig deeper. I do not know where the pipes came from and where they headed to but there was a metal connection that we hoped was leaking so we could replace it.

It took a long time to get down to the part especially because it was muddy, wet, and very heavy. Dad used the vacuum to suck out the water and then would shovel and fling the dirt up, only to find more water. This continued for hours and Ace Hardware, which we needed a new connection from, was already closed.

In the midst of digging and vacuuming water from the hole, a wifi wire that went to our tenents house was snipped. This brought them outside to watch the digging (6 feet away of course.) Another neighbor owns a plumbing company and we were able to get a few parts and suggestions from him. Others just stood there for support because what else were they going to do without wifi?

I was inside most of the day but headed out around 2 PM to help, encourage, and watch. I put on my mud boots and started shoveling mud into a pile to jump in. I find the mud very satisfying and it felt nice to slosh around and try to unstick my feet. After I got bored with that, I helped with the vacuuming. Minutes later, I began working on the garden (seen above). Our garden has always been a surprise as we do not put much organization or work into it. Occasionally, we will find a zucchini or some cilantro but our garden is anything but consistent. As I sifted and mixed the soil, I began finding orange carrots. It was amazing to think that such a small thing could withstand a Colorado winter! If you are looking for a sign of hope look in the direction of these carrots because they persevered.

I ended up finding 7 or 8 of them (Huck took a couple from the pile when I wasn't looking). There was really no point in going inside because there was no water to clean off the cakes of mud I was covered in. Meanwhile, the digging and vacuuming method was still going strong and Dad was near the pipe.

At 7 PM we realized the leak was coming from the bottom tube of the spigot. Dad drove down to our neighbors to get a cap so that we could at least have water for the night. After putting the cap on, there was still a leak, but it was smaller. At 8 PM he decided to just turn the water back on for the night and work on it in the morning. However, Dad still had to go and fix the wifi cable that had been cut. Luckily, he IS a multimedia guy and fixing cables is an easy task.

I think to m0ral of the story is that things go wrong all of the time and you are going to have to deal with them anyway. Also, it was probably the best day of Huck's life because he was able to get dirty, steal some carrots, and stay outside all day. If you have a good attitude it isn't nearly as bad. Hopefully, the pipe will be fixed today. 🤞😯

Stay patient,

Ava