I keep turning on the hot water tap. Water keeps not coming out. Our building is getting its hot water system updated in the boiler room. The hot water has been scheduled to be shut off entirely for yesterday and today. So this is day two of cold water only. It’s not quite coinciding with one of our heat waves either. It’s been a bit chilly actually. I continue to turn on the hot water tap by force of habit. 

The situation is reminiscent of the great storm and power outage of December 2006. The neighborhood I was living in was without power for five (long) days. It turned out the fireplace was not designed to actually heat the house, and that was discovered only after the difficulty of procuring any firewood in the city full of others having designs along the same lines. I think I took a shower at my aunt and uncle’s partway through. (Thank you for your generosity!) And rejoiced that it was the holiday season and there were plenty of parties to go to where people had power. Although then it was truly freezing, whereas now it’s just in the 60F’s instead of the 80F’s. 

Of course it’s challenging not having hot water available with an infant at hand since infant and frequent washing-up seem to go hand in hand. Breast milk in all its various forms seems magnetized to clean fabrics. Fresh from Leak (me), cultured a bit from my yogurt machine (Lake), or aged (nappy explosions). Once a new clothing outfit goes on, I start counting the seconds before they are christened. Four [seconds] seems par for the course. Meanwhile we wash up with cold water. 

Gratitude check… It’s summer! We have running water and the drains are draining! Kitters remain unfazed. Lake is darling.
And, when all else fails, a girl can still go shopping! We packed up and went on a local adventure, walking up to the Ave to browse the University Bookstore. That’ll boost the spirits! And voilà… 

Hot water and summery weather are back when we return!