My neighborly duty

Yesterday morning found me in my usual routine. Clean the house in the morning, Mason down for a nap at 10:30, running on the treadmill. As I was headed up the stairs to finally put my face on, Tylie stopped me. She begged me to let her in the backyard for a while to play in her sandbox. "Ok- sure Ty. I am going to jump in the shower. I will come check on you when I get out." Jake built a great sandbox for her last summer but he put a lid on it so it would not turn into a giant kitty litter box. I hesitated going outside looking like I did, but what harm could it really be? 10 seconds. Lift the lid and go back inside. Hopefully no stray pets were in my yard or I would be charged with animal abuse by just looking at them.
As I helped Tylie, I heard a very familiar sound. Rushing water. For most people, the sound of rushing water can be very calming and relaxing. It reminds them of a stream trickling through a canyon or watching a sunset on a beach while the waves lap at the shore. For me, this is not the case. When I hear rushing water, fear courses through my veins and I have horrible flashbacks from when I was a kid. My parents had water rights on their property so we would often spend our summers irrigating. If the water was not watched, it can really get away from you. I remember many nights of waking to that sound and stepping out of my bed only to find my carpet was floating.
So, since I knew I did not have beach front property, I jumped into action and started checking every window well hoping to find the waterfall before too much damage was caused. When I couldn't find it anywhere around my house, I quickly realized it was coming from my neighbors. And since he is a single guy that works during the day, I figured that he was not aware of the shattered sprinkler line that was filling his basement for him. I started running around like an idiot not really knowing what to do. I immediately call Jake while I am pounding on my neighbors door. I knew he wasn't home but I didn't know what else to do. Jake didn't answer so I go to my next go-to man. My dad. He begins to instruct me on how to get the water off. Get a crescent wrench. Check. Pull the water meter cover off. Check. Find the turn off valve. Check. Crank the valve off. Ummmm...... No check, NO CHECK!! I can't get the stupid thing to turn. I only have the strength to turn the valves on my oven! I can hear the water continue to poor in his window well and I am completely helpless. I hang up with my dad and start running to my friend's house while I am trying to call another friend on the phone. "Please, oh please! Let there be some testosterone somewhere in this neighborhood!" I finally got Jake on the phone and he gave me the same instructions on how to turn the water off. I frantically tried to explain to him that unless he had some advice on how to become a body builder in 90 seconds or less, his advice was going to be no help. As I am running around the neighborhood looking like I just drank 10 red bulls, one of my neighbors came running around the corner. He was like an angel sent right from manly heaven. He cranked off the water like he was screwing the top back on a milk jug. In the midst of all of this, it as started to hail, I am standing in thick mud, in a tank top, with my already greasy hair now matted to my forehead. I have the city water guys helping pump the water out, a police man who helped escort the water guys in, and Tylie in tears thinking the police man is going to take me to jail.( That will teach me not to threaten Tylie with ridiculous things when she won't put her seatbelt on.) And then I was just thrilled to see that it was time for all of my friends to pick their kids up from the bus stop which is located right in front of my house. Awesome! This little trip out to the sandbox had turned into a outing that I wasn't exactly happy about. I am glad that I was able to help my neighbor. The damage was not too bad. Some new carpet and it is as good as new. I hope not to have another experience like that for a while but I am glad I could do it. After all, that's what neighbors are for.