The fish belong to Elizabeth, and she usually feeds them herself. But she's been nannying every day for a couple of weeks, so other family members have been stepping up. Literally, in Peter's case.
He pulls over a chair to the tall cabinet on top of which the fish reside in their little plastic containers and steps up to be able to see them. But, unlike the rest of us, Peter does not just feed the fish. He has a captive audience. Not only do the fish love to watch whoever is standing in front of them-- probably hoping for another food pellet-- but since they have no eyelids, they can't even blink. And Peter loves this. He does magic tricks for the fish, holding a small ball in his had and passing it slowly before their staring eyes, he quickly tucking it behind his back, holding out his now empty hands and exclaims, "Ta-da!" He sings songs he makes up on the spot, and dances, wiggling his little hips and waving his arms above his head. He tells jokes and generally provides about the best stand-up comedy I've ever seen. The fish have yet to clap, but I'm sure they love it as much as I do. After all, they haven't missed a performance yet!
Now, the Soggy Basement part. Ugh.
It rained on Sunday while we were in church, and by the time we got home the power was out and the basement was flooded. But unlike other times when the basement has flooded (yes, this happens fairly regularly) the water was not coming in the window wells. Since the power was out, we assumed the problem was that the sump pump had stopped working. (That may still prove to be part of the problem.) But, on closer investigation, the kids announced that the water appeared to be coming from a huge blue water storage container in the corner of the basement.
Now, I thought this was a little odd. What are the chances that this heavy, thick-walled thing would start leaking during a rain storm when the power goes out? And then stop leaking when the power comes back on? Pretty slim. Yet, I could see for myself that the corner with the storage container was wet, and the area around the sump pump was dry.
(Ok, slightly separate rant: According to all I've read online about sump pumps in the past few days, the basement floor should be slanted ever so slightly toward the sump pump, so any water from other places gets pumped out. That would be logical. But ours slants away from the pump. Really. Water puddles up all around the other walls and the furnace, but we have to push it uphill to get it back to the pump. I can not get over the amazing skills of the master craftsmen who built this house.)
So, several ponderings later, and I conclude the sump pump did stop working, and the increased water around our foundation leaked in through the walls behind the blue water storage container.
Wonderful.
Not only does our pump apparently not have a back-up power source (something that must be remedied), but the foundation is apparently cracked enough to be pouring gallons of water into the basement. And this is apart from the window well problem we were already aware of and working to fix.
I am so ready to move to a secluded island and live off coconuts and pineapple and teach my children to roast fish on a little fire behind the hut and do native dances. Peter's got the dancing part down pretty well already. And think of the laundry we wouldn't have to wash and fold. We could all just wear grass skirts. And never have a flooded basement again.
Rebecca =)
writing from suburbia-- not a remote island, unfortunately
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