Truth be told, I've had a couple of nervous peeps on my paws the last week or so. I did my best to console them. I purred a lot. I let them rub my tummy. I purred some more. I let them give me chin tickles and behind-the-ear scritches. I purred even more. I practically purred myself out! Yup, that's how much I purred but still, the peeps remained nervous.Luckily, the nervousness has subsided... as has the water. I believe the two are connected.
It all started when Peep #2 came up from the basement and mentioned that there was water in the sump pump. Just what is a sump pump, you ask? Who knows. It's that thing in the corner of the laundry room in my basement. I usually avoid it, myself but from what I've seen, it's a big hole in the floor. Don't know WHY the peeps wanted a hole in the floor but they did. MOUSES!
Anywho... the big hole in the floor was fillin' up with water. From what I understood, this was not good. Apparently, all that snow Santa brought at Christmas started to melt when Mother Nature whipped up the January thaw. Then, on top of the meltin' snow, it rained. All that melted snow and rain went into the ground. Down and down it went until it met up with something called a water table.
Now this is where it gets interesting. Apparently, under my house, is a table made of water. Weird, huh? That's what I thought, too! Why would anyone make a table out of water? It's a very strange concept, indeed.
Water doesn't provide a very firm surface so it's a very odd material with which to make a table. Wood is usually used. That makes sense. Wood is good and hard. You put a plate on a wooden table and it sits right there on that table. You put a plate on a pool of water and... well... well it's gonna sink. That's 'cause water isn't firm like wood or stone or glass or even plastic. All of those are far better materials with which to make a table.
Now some things can float in water. I know this from experience. Now that I think about it, I remember that three or four years ago, that ol' water table got even higher than it did last week and came right up over the basement floor. It's true.
And do you know what else is true? Litter boxes are capable of floating in water. Yup, they float just like little boats and sail around the basement when the basement floods. I didn't sail in any of 'em, though. In order to do that, I would have had to have gotten into one and that would have necessitated my wadin' through the cold, icy water and my paws would have gotten wet. I really don't like havin' wet paws. I could have waited at the bottom step for a litter box to dock and climbed in from there but... well... the litter boxes never docked at the staircase. Also, I didn't have a ticket. I think one needs a ticket to sail in a boat. At least, that's what I've heard. MOUSES!Furniture, however, does not float. Neither do appliances. They just sit in the water. They just sit there gettin' wet and sometimes, they break. Peeps lost a freezer the last time this water table reared its ugly head. They were pretty annoyed, if I remember correctly. The old little freezer was okay but the big one they had had for only a year went caput. Apparently, freezers are like cats. They don't like wet paws, either.
Peepers tells me that the water table has actually come up above the basement floor three times in the fourteen or fifteen years they have lived here. That table is down there, lurking and just waiting to cause trouble. Kind of sounds a little like Nosey Neighbour Cat, if you ask me.
Yesterday, that Old Man Winter came back and shoved Mother Nature and her little thaw out of the way. The colder temperatures mean no more rain. Oh yeah, sure, we happen to have a blizzard warnin' for today but at least it will be snow comin' down and not rain. Plus, none of that snow will be melting 'cause it's just way too cold for snow to melt unless it happens to be a flake you've caught on your tongue and it melts in your mouth but quite frankly, it's too cold out there for me to be catchin' the flakes. I'm stayin' inside today where I'm nice and warm and snug as a bug in a rug. NOT THAT WE HAVE ANY BUGS! Well... Nosey Neighbour Cat sometimes bugs me but that's a different kind of bug, I think.
The peeps are quite pleased that it's cold again. That ol' table of water is droppin' now. Yup, they can see it gettin' lower and lower and lower in the big hole in the floor of the basement. The water table is headin'... south? No, down. Yes, most definitely down.
But I have to wonder why anyone would build a house on top of a table made of water. Well, the peeps weren't responsible for that. They're responsible for a lot of the foolishness that goes on in my house but not for that. The people who built the house are the ones who would be responsible for this particular foolishness. Yes, they really should have known that water simply does not provide a solid surface upon which a house can sit.
From what I've heard, when the basement was originally dug, water started pouring in. A neighbour on another street said he saw it happenin'. I don't think he was lyin'. I think he was snoopin' around and whatnot after dark but good thing he was 'cause now we know more about this water table business.Had I been in charge, I would have stopped digging right there and then and filled in the hole before startin' over but not diggin' down so deeply the second time. That's what other people livin' around here did when encounterin' the same issue. But that's not what happened. Instead, the water drained away and the people buildin' the house just kept on buildin'. Maybe they were thinkin' of puttin' in an indoor swimmin' pool or somethin'. Could be. Stranger things have happened.
But there is a moral to this story and the moral is this. Don't make tables out of water. 'Nough said. MOUSES!
