Early Morning Rain

We had a tremendous rainfall last night. I was awakened by the pounding and pouring in mid-slumber. Because of the rain, I received a knock on the door this morning at 7:15.

I was still in bed, in that half awake state, debating whether to get up now or in a few minutes. At the first knock, I thought, It must be a mistake, it's just the wind knocking things about, it sure blew hard on our door knocker and from a weird angle to make it sound like someone is knocking on our door.

When the knock came a second time, more determinedly, I had to admit this was an intentional knock by someone outside wanting my attention. I looked out the window and saw someone in a green shirt. It's funny. Though I couldn't actually see his face, I knew exactly who it was by his shirt.

The family next door has had some trouble lately. Two months ago, the sister and mother were in a car accident. The mother died. The sister received a hip replacement and spent two months in rehab. A second sister came in from Hong Kong during this time. She and her brother - the man who knocked on my door this morning - took care of the house and their sister in rehab. When Sister One came out of rehab, the retaining wall in their backyard collapsed. I've chatted with them and gave them some suggestions for repairing the wall. They are now working with their neighbour to the back to fix it.

In the last two weeks, I've seen Sister Two and Brother out all the time, tying up wood and garbage from the wall. Sister One also goes out each day with her walker for exercise. It's unusual to see this family out, they have been so reclusive in the past. Maybe we've just kept different hours. But I know it's more than that. They stay inside the house when they are home. Me, I stand outside and talk to my neighbours. Plus little kids on our street call on The Boy all the time because they like to hang out with an older boy who's fun and entertaining with little kids.

What I notice about the family next door is, Sister Two and Brother wear the same outfits all the time. It's like a uniform. Sister Two wears a teal track suit. I recognize her way down in the street by the flash of teal going by. Brother wears a bright green shirt and blue jeans. I see him in the back clearing wood by the bright green flash through the trees. In the last few weeks, I have never seen them wear anything else.

So I saw the bright green shirt at my door and knew it was the man next door. Knowing how little they like to socialize, I suspected it was something urgent that prompted a knock on my door at 7:15 a.m. in the pouring rain. He muttered nervously to me that he wanted to go into our backyard to fix the downspout because it was draining water down their wall. I said, Of course and led him through the back.

To my great surprise, it wasn't his downspout he wanted to fix. It was ours. It had come off at the base and rain poured out from the pipe flooding their yard. The flood was at the foot of their wall and would next flood their basement from their basement entrance if the water was not diverted. He picked up the spout on the ground and re-attached it to the portion on the wall. Then he moved my propane tank that I happened to have filled but neglected to put away under the spout to keep the two pieces in place. Now the water will run to the middle of the yard, safely away from both houses.

I apologized for not knowing about the broken spout and neglecting a house repair that caused the flood. He apologized more profusely for calling on me so early in the morning. Orientals and Canadians. Both known to wear apology as a cultural badge of honour. Being Oriental and Canadian at the same time means apologies spew quicker than flash lightning. So much shame for doing the neighbour wrong so early in the morning.

Good thing I know how to use use the drill gun now. I will need to bolt the downspout pieces together as soon as it stops raining.