MY WEEK OF WATERING

What my dad didn’t tell me about the fancy extendable hosepipe is that if the pressure builds up, it gets harder and harder to change the nozzle, and when it’s still attached to the tap, it might not be sensible to try wrenching the thing round from ‘cone’ to ‘jet’ to ‘mist’ by gripping it with wet fingers inside the hem of your t-shirt.

Another top tip, which should be evident to the world of physics, is that on windy days you can’t really get away with switching it to ‘jet’ and watering the plants in the front garden that are too far for the hosepipe to normally reach. If the wind is blowing towards you, it ought to be obvious what the end result might be.

Tonight, almost as soon as I’d hung up the fancy hosepipe and tucked away the watering cans, it started raining. Ah well. They can’t have too much water can they, the plants? Better than none.

I randomly started filling up the bird bath as well (twist to ‘cone’ and aim). I thought maybe the birds would appreciate fresh water, especially on these baking days. I never saw any of them use it though. Perhaps the starlings and the tits come over during work hours to party in the lido while I’ve been at my desk. ‘A society grows strong,’ some Greek philosopher once said, ‘when old men plant trees whose shade they will never enjoy.’

Hope the same is true for birds then.

That’s it for my week of watering then. The Intrepids are back tomorrow, and my dad can use his own fancy extendable hosepipe again. It’s been nice to see the water trickling from leaves and soaking the soil though. I’ve liked seeing the rainbow in the spray and feeling the droplets of cool clear water splashing lightly on my hot face. I feel like I’ve made at least a small difference to some living things, and, without wishing to be over-dramatic, I’ve prevented the death of a garden in a very simple way.

I also switched the hose back to ‘jet’ and squirted it directly into my dad’s rain gage, just to be funny. He is going to wonder how exactly we had 50cm of rain during a drought, I’d wager. Though, he’s kind and clever; I’m sure he’ll work it out.