T.I.V. Tuesday

When I was a child, my grandmother, Grammy we called her, used to have her water delivered in 5 gallon jugs. She had one of those water dispensers with both a blue and red nozzle respectively indicating cold and hot water. We thought it was pretty cool -- after all our water just came out of the tap, how provincial! Her brand of water was Arrowhead and ever since I always think of that size of water bottle as Arrowhead Water.
We have running water, but it isn't fit for consumption so our drinking water is delivered in similar bottles every Friday. Though we usually only drain 2 or 3 a week, we always have at least 6 at the ready...just in case (our new life mantra in Venezuela.) I have no idea where this water comes from, but I like to think it too is Arrowhead Water and though thousands of miles away, it's source is lovely, pristine, pure Lake Arrowhead.

Looks inviting, doesn't it? And never more so to me than this last weekend when beginning Thursday night our water slowed to a trickle then stopped altogether not to return until Monday morning. Apparently there was a catastrophic break in a major artery of Caracas' water delivery system and half the city went without running water for more than 72 hours. With the last vestiges in our pipes we filled the bathtubs (and discovered too late only 1 of 3 actually holds water for an extended period), hurriedly washed any dirty dishes and bathed the boys. The bath water was full of red silt and decidedly unpleasant looking so was relegated exclusively to flushing toilets.

Friday morning dawned sans water and with limited options for general cleanliness. Kenny actually went swimming first, but the resulting coat of chlorine solved nothing. We waited as long as possible, hoping for a miracle, but finally we were so offensive to ourselves something had to be done. Enter our emergency "Arrowhead" water. Using a bowlful of heated drinking water and a cup, we took our showers and repeated that each day for the next three. Finally on Sunday night we took the boys to a friend's house for baths. We had tried to keep them clean, but they were filthy and needed a good soak.

The water is back now though rumors are flying of residual problems cropping up as a result of the original break. Our bathtub is full, just in case and we are counting the minutes until we board a plane for UT and my parents' gloriously water-full house. As I stood in the shower last weekend with my cupful of water rinsing soap from my skin I tried to imagine diving into beautiful Lake Arrowhead coming out refreshed and clean. No such luck. It was a beautiful dream never quite realized.