Gushing Water and Falling Leaves

Reading the title of this chapter of my blog probably brings to mind a beautiful autumn scene of a roaring waterfall amid colorful leaves gently falling from the forest of trees.  You may even be able to imagine the cool mist of the falls along with the gentle breeze carrying the leaves.  Yeah, well, you wouldn't be further from right!  One day last week, after a full day of working to paint and update the master bathroom, I was getting cleaned up in the guest bathroom to make yet another trip to our local Home Depot.  We are on a first name basis with most of the cashiers there now.  As I said, I was getting cleaned up and Mountain Man was out on the deck working on one of his many projects.  I finished in the shower, stepped out and turned off the water.  I no sooner had the cold water shut off, turned to grab my towel and heard a whoosh and a thunk.  I turned back around to see a torrent of water coming out of the wall so hard it was hitting the back wall of the shower.  It was coming out where the cold water faucet used to be.  I was grabbing at the shower curtain to try and contain as much of the water as possible in the tub while yelling for Mountain Man to shut off the main water valve.  Being on the deck, he couldn't hear the water, only my desperate calls for help.  MM came running in toward the bathroom, thinking that I had fallen in the shower.  Once he saw what, looking back at it now, was quite a sight, me in all my glory battling an uncontrollable gush of water, he knew he was headed in the wrong direction and made a B line for the basement.  Thank goodness, just the day before we had looked to see where the shut off valve for the entire house was, so he knew right where to go. I don't know if I ever told you this, but, Mountain Man's nickname is Mr. FixIt, so in a matter of minutes he had figured out that the entire cold water stem had unscrewed itself, or had never been properly screwed in.  Either way, he had everything fixed quickly and was helping me sop up all of the water that managed to escape the shower.

A few days later, we had purchased a new toilet for the master bath and were installing it.  I don't know how toilet savvy you are, but we had no idea that the new toilets come with a pump system instead of the old flapper system.  They say that it gives you a much more powerful flush with much less water.  I don't know about that, but I do know that it was more like working on a spaceship than a simple toilet!  After much analyzing, reading, and rereading the directions, the unit was finally installed.  We were ready for the "maiden flush"! Never having seen a "pump" toilet work, we decided to leave the lid off so we could watch the "super pump action" that this unit was advertised to have.  That was our first mistake.  Our second mistake was taking too literally the instructions saying not to over tighten the tank to the seat because it would cause cracking and breaking of either or both parts.  So, with the excitement and anticipation of a child on Christmas morning, we flushed!  No where in the installation instructions did it say that if the toilet is flushed without the lid on that the water will spray straight upward like a geyser.  And you can imagine where the rest of the water went since the bolts for the tank were obviously not tightened enough!  This time, I was the runner to get every available towel while Mountain Man shut off the water to the toilet and tried to contain the water that was quickly making its way toward our bedroom.  After rereading the directions AGAIN and resecuring the bolts, all the while holding our breath that we wouldn't hear any cracking noises, we were ready for the longed perfect flush.  As we are fast learners, we put the top on the tank this time and proceeded to flush.  And the perfect flush it was.  Not an errant drop of water anywhere.  We were back in business!

After all of that excitement, I was ready for a break.  On the back of our house we have a 40 foot long, 20 foot high deck that overlooks the mountain that we live on.  With being up so high, I am able to sit and watch at eye level the leaves flutter on the trees and every once in a while, I am able to see one as it comes loose of the tree and floats to the ground.  You always hear people talking about mindfulness.  This is a perfect example of being mindful.  Having 
your mind relaxed and empty enough that you can totally, without even trying, focus on that one beautiful leaf's journey from limb to ground.  Noticing nothing else around you.  This is why I am here.  This is why I love this place.  To be able to take the time, calm my crazy mind and focus on the incredible perfection that is nature.  To see all of the gifts that my creator has given to me so abundantly and that I rushed through life and totally missed out on until now. As my journey continues, I am anticipating many new and amazing experiences, even some wet and maybe less that perfect experiences and I am so honored to be able to share them with you.  Thank you!