For a change of pace, just to break up the consequences from natural disasters, Austinites underwent a water boil restriction because someone did something wrong. If I hadn’t been under a pandemic quarantine for nearly two years, then I would have immediately entered Peace Corps mode and boiled water as soon as my roommate had told me about the boil restriction.
The bottled waters one of my sisters had bought back in December 2019 when she had visited were a saving grace. She was in the middle of some crazy water cleanse and had bought several liters of distilled water. So many that I still had two of those huge containers. Still, they only lasted two days. I hadn’t noticed how much water I drank throughout the course of my 8-hour shift since I kept refilling my water glass with tap water. Until I couldn’t.
Me being my typical Virgo self, I wasn’t about to go to grocery shopping for bottled water before my usual grocery-shopping day. By that time, the large containers were gone. I bought two 1-liter bottles because I want to have stored water on hand. Yet, I boiled a large pot of water, which sufficed until the boil restriction was lifted.
Now the potable tap water has returned, the ice storm has passed and the temperature has warmed. In those moments of bliss where there aren’t any disasters, natural or humanmade, I’m going to celebrate the circumstances as a win.