Questionable Water and Cold Weather

It's cold outside -- very, very cold. Right now (Sunday morning just after 8:00), it is 19 degrees, and this will be our high for the day. Tonight, the temps will drop to single digits.

Ice has been in our trees for days. Grass is nice and crunchy. It's cold out there.

We've not had anything above freezing since last Wednesday. I don't think we've seen the sun since then, either. And it will stay like this today, tomorrow, and through much of Tuesday. However, I hope to see temps rise to the mid-30s on Tuesday, and we may even get some sun. But it will be Wednesday before we return to anything approaching normal.

Deer coming out of the draw across the street from us this morning.

But the weather is not the only unusual event to happen around here lately.

Turkeys with some of their feathers puffed up to help keep warm.

Starting last Monday evening, the city put out a "Do Not Use" water advisory. Now, this is different from your normal "boil before using" advisory that usually occurs. In this case, we were advised to not use the water at all except for flushing toilets or watering landscapes. That means no bathing, no washing clothes, and certainly no human consumption.

Turkey roosting on the handrail of the steps at our neighbor's house across the street.

A strange smell coming from the water was reported by a number of citizens in a neighborhood in the northeastern part of the city. Local officials were able to determine that this was not a bacterial contamination, thus boiling would not do any good. It was soon reported that this was a chemical problem. I immediately thought of the city near Tampa Bay, Florida, that had reported their water system being hacked.

Notice how the feathers of the turkey in front are somewhat ruffled.

So, for the next day, we followed the warnings. Fortunately, we had a good supply of bottled water on hand, plus we had some jerry cans of regular water stored. We started this practice years ago while in East Texas because we were getting hit by so many storms, many of which would shut down the water supply. So, we have 4 jerry cans (2 five-gallon and 2 six-gallon cans), and for several years I'd fill those. Every 6 months or so, I would empty the water, using it to water trees and other outdoor plants so as not to waste it, then refilling with fresh water. In the last few years, I had become negligent, though, and had stopped this practice. Fortunately, the brains of this outfit had taken it upon herself to recently fill 2 of the smaller jerry cans with water, so we had 10 gallons of water as well as what we had in bottled water.

Our latest puzzle, "Mr. Wiggins' Whirligigs"

Fortunately, about 24 hours after the advisory was issued, certain parts of the city were released from the warning, and that included our area. As I write this, results of testing performed by TCEQ (Texas Commission on Environmental Quality) reported the presence of benzene and other chemicals at high levels, but only in samples taken from the originating neighborhood. However, these chemicals have been determined to be below the maximum level (if I understand this correctly). Tests are still being performed.

At this time, all areas of the city have been released to use water as usual except for the neighborhood where the advisory originated. Ramifications for this advisory were far reaching. Schools and other organizations in the "Do Not Use" areas were closed, and all eating establishments in those areas were closed. 

These are interesting times we live in.