The Flush of Wrath

8:51 AM Elizabeth Seckman 25 Comments

 

Imagine it...a quiet Saturday with a surprisingly small to-do list. I ate breakfast with my husband then sent him off to the farm. A for-real farm with cows and tractors, not the euphemistic farm where people send animals to "be free". Not that I have ever sent anyone or anything to that "farm"...

I promise, I haven't. 

But now I worry that by saying that, I'm sounding a bit too "she doth protest too much"...

Let's start over. Forget the farm. 

It was Saturday. The morning air was crisp, but the sun shone bright and the only thing on my to-do list was words. A whole day of them! I was going to write thousands and thousands of them! There was an elevated level of excitement in my nerdy heart. 

I got home and set up writer-shop in the basement, where I could do the laundry whilst I wrote that eventual best-seller. I put in the first load of clothes, got myself comfy in my subterranean work space when I noticed a stream of water coming across the basement floor. It had been raining, so I hoped it was something as simple as the sump pump needing a kick and a reboot. But my brain kept reminding me of the strange gurgle in the pipes when the toilet flushed. I kept those fingers crossed and inspected the problem. The basement walls were dry. The water came from the sewer drain. 

Nothing like soapy, poopy water to kill the joy of a free afternoon. I called my husband home from the farm (I told you I hadn't killed him!), pulled on my gumboots, and started the mop and clean up. Long story short...two days of digging, cussing, praying, and water blasting got us back to free-flowing normalcy.

I always try to find the upside of everything, some silver lining or glimmer of understanding, but so far, all I've come up with is...

When life gives you poop, don't make a milkshake. Just clean the sh*t up and go on. 

Ironically, my book of choice for this week was Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. By chapter three, I was thanking God for my twenty-first century problems. I'm sure the Joads would've loved to trade me places. My wet basement for being run off their homestead during the Great Depression of the 1930's. 

I guess there was a silver lining after all. 

25 comments:

  1. Good grief. Sorry you had to deal with that. So much for that freed up day.

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    1. I was pretty crabby last week. It put me behind (pun not intended, lol) in everything. But I think I'm caught up and can now find the humor in it.

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    2. Yay for getting caught up. Hope you're getting all kinds of writing done.
      Hugs

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  2. Yeah, no matter how bad, it could be worse. However, that was still crappy.

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    1. It may not help everyone, but reminding myself that somewhere on this earth there is someone who would love to have my problems helps me keep my spiral toward dark moods in check.

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  3. What a horrible turn to the day but hopefully everything will behave now and you can pursue your real aims.

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  4. Ugh! What a mess! Not only literally, but mentally/emotionally as well. I find it so hard to get back on a good track after getting knocked off it. I'm better at it than I used to be but still.

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    1. It does suck the wind from your sails for a moment. I was knocking off words pretty fluidly and am still at that place where I'm trying to remember what my plot plan was. My notes are only a bit helpful, lol

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  5. Ugh! Not what you want at all. But at least you caught it early and didn't end up with a basement full of it.

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    1. You are right about that! And our basement is unfinished and uncarpeted, so it was an easy clean up.

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  6. So glad you can find the humor. I think I'd still be running around screaming 🤬

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    1. I figure you either laugh or you cry and since laughter is good medicine...going with laughter.

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  7. i loved your "way" of telling your story dear Elizabeth
    you have beautiful way with words indeed!
    i agree that life is full of surprises and whenever we are encountered with sudden surprise we should not waste time in worries but must face it with all the wisdom and sooth we have earned throughout the life .it is our "light" to see through good hidden behind every challenge :)

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    1. We see life the same way, Baili! Worry and stress doesn't push the bad away, but light will.

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  8. Oh no, there's always something ready and waiting to ruin our plans. I hope it's all fixed now and that you can get on with your writing this weekend. I've never read The Grapes of Wrath. I've read Of Mice and Men a few times, which I love, and The Pearl, which I wasn't so keen on, perhaps it's one to add to my list.

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    1. Toilets and drains are all emptying smoothly! Yay!
      I finished the book. Not my favorite. The ending was unsettling. I didn't feel like the story got wrapped up, so it felt more like one long, epic whine. I did like Mice and Men and East of Eden. I remember reading The Pearl in high school, but it didn't stick with me, so I must not have liked it.

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  9. Geeze Louise, so glad you're back to free-flowing normalcy there. What a miserable experience.
    The little blond plumber is very cute, though.
    Hugs!

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  10. Thanks for commenting on my blog. Sorry for your problems with the sewer. Your problem made entertaining reading for me. Ha. I'm looking forward to reading more.

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    1. That is the upside to life adding its own plot twists...makes for better reading. Thank you for stopping by!

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  11. It's all a matter of perspective, isn't it? So sorry you had to go through that! At least our basement flooding problems were just water.

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    1. Perspective is key. I kept telling myself...hey, at least you have plumbing...all over the floor, but still, it's plumbing...

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  12. LOL! Now that's a motto I can get behind! Having gone the flooded basement route a time or two (or five) I can relate. That's why we now have everything important off the floor. Sewer . . . eeeew!

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    1. Same. I don't call our basement the dungeon for nothing...

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