Thursday, June 26, 2014

Water

Water fascinates me. 
Ice cold water seems the only cure to cooling off on sweltering summer days. 
In Rome, there are fountains everywhere.  We learned quick to "do as the Romans do..." and filled our water bottles whenever we came across one of these fountains.  This woman and I could not speak to one another due to the language barrier, but who needs words.  It was an extremely warm day.  We understood each other completely as we cooled our faces and arms with the chilly water flowing from the fountain.    Giggles and smiles, and then splashing each other broke any barriers that may have invisibly been there. 
This was a happy water moment. 

    With a little work hiking, this spectacular water view was our reward.  Boats float along gracefully.  Notice the calm of the water.  A vast amount of water and yet, it can only go so far.  It knows its boundaries. 

Fish swim and so did we!  Boats are anchored just off shore.   We swallowed more than our share of the salty Mediterranean Sea water. 
 
I haven't lifeguarded for quite some time now, but I sure do enjoy taking some laps in the pool.  This pool in particular.  The views of the Tuscany landscape were awe-inspiring. 

 Our bodies cannot survive without water.    We crave it on hot days.  It is the only liquid that truly quenches our thirst. 
And yet, water can do so much damage.

It is never good when you are out of the country and about 2 in the morning, the cell phone rings. 
That would put it about  6 p.m. our time in the states. 
"You have water in your basement."  Rubbing our eyes and trying to determine what is being said to us we say, "What did you say...we have what in our basement?"
"Did you say we have water in our basement?  It must be bad if you are calling us."

Yep...it was bad.  They spared us the horrid details but needed some information from us.  Over the next few days, all we could do was call or text and wonder what was going on.  We were helpless.  It was a despairing feeling.  Water. in. our. basement.  Oh no.  We wanted to get home.  We thought of the blessings.  One for sure...it was at the end of our holiday.  Friday.  We were to return home in just a few days.  The blessing that this did not happen at the beginning gave us peace. 
Peace.  The significance of this picture brought us tremendous peace. 
It was taken more than a week before getting the news that we would be coming home to a mess. 
With the Atlantic between us, another body of unwanted water was taking up residency, and in no particular hurry to leave, in our basement. 
We are home now and the water still is our unwanted guest.  It is getting better...just a little.  The news that insurance does not cover this overwhelms us, but we will be ok. 
Thank you just does not seem to adequately convey our deepest gratitude to our families:
Judy and Jerry
Jon and Becky, Jackson and Claire
David and Susie
And our dear friends...Richard and Brenda.
To our baby girl, Kayla.  I bet you are going to think twice when we ask you to "watch over the house while we are gone!'
And to her friends...Zach, Lindsey and Ethan. 
Thank you.  We much prefer to be on the giving end of help, instead of the receiving one.  We are quite sure you won't soon forget wading through inches of water trying to save what you can.  Thanks for not saving the carpet!  Really.  Thanks.  You gotta laugh. 

So, has water ever done a significant amount of damage to your home? 

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