Underwater Garden and the Big Mama

All right. It’s not an underwater garden, it’s a garden that is under water.

Yes, I was in the middle of a flood this week. Tunisia gets little or no rain from June to September. This year we had one storm in September (which hardly counts, just barely settled the dust), and then we finally got a good storm in mid-October. By my calculations we went for about five months without any substantial precipitation. The driveway this week:

So if it rains for a straight twelve hours or more, there is nothing but trouble. And it rained pretty steadily for three days. Here is my new bamboo fence with rock border (submerged) that I just finished. This makes a good "before" picture.

The road in front of our house.

It’s also bad in towns and cities because, although there are drainage systems, they are not well kept up and easily overflow, resulting in flooded streets and stalled cars. Of course, Tunis beats Cairo, which apparently doesn’t have any drainage or run-off system at all because it would just fill up with sand. So when it rains (once in a blue moon) all the underpasses and low spots fill up with water resulting in nightmarish, snarled traffic.

         In my area, a oued (pronounced ‘wed’, a dry riverbed) overflowed after heavy rains in 1982, making it the worst flood I’ve seen. We were in the middle of a river. Of the five steps leading to our front door, three were covered with water. That was close! Our liquid petroleum gas bottles (weighing around 50 kilos or over 100 lbs) were swept off to the neighbors' house, some 500 meters away.When the water receded, we shoveled silt into wheelbarrows for days—horrible stuff that turns into a cement-like crust if not removed.

         The good news: unlike the recent New York snow storm, our telephone, electricity, and internet services have continued to function—thankfully. Although we did get out the candles just in case. No complaints, then, especially as I found myself with lots of time to work in my studio. I was finally able to finish the Big Mama, which I have been working on a couple hours a day for four months. She’s big.

This pot stands 22”/55cm high. The toothy grin was quite unintentional. I’ll have to wait until things dry out to plant it. 

The smaller pot is planted with scented geranium. 

Joke of the week: A section of the garden had stagnating puddles of water, so six weeks ago we informed the water company that the water pipe in front of our house probably had developed an underground leak--and then we called them five more times. When did the water company send out its repairmen??? Yup, last Monday in the middle of the flood.  They'll come back when the area dries out.

And as temperatures have not dropped significantly, I can look forward to knee-high grass and weeds, and swarms of flies. I swing a wicked fly-swatter…

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News Update: Tunisia has successfully held elections for a constituent assembly with only a few snags. The moderate religious party, An-Nadha, garnered 40% of the vote and is seeking partners to form a coalition to run the government. The American government appears to accept this state of affairs. French politicians seem worried. They weren't particularly worried when there was a dictator who had "98%" of the "vote." Do you see a disconnect here? We hope that a government can be formed peacefully.