My vivid picture of the day is Shama, one of our most beloved housemothers, sitting on a low stool with her umbrella, next to our lake (it used to be our playground), small bucket in hand filling bigger buckets for the girls.  Half of the girls were still getting soap out of their hair in the shower, when the water pump quit!  "Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink"--or bathe in, we might add.  The rain has been incessant for several days.  Our huge wells have filled up by a third, at least.  I've never seen rain come down like this.  We have been without power a good portion of the last few days, but until this morning we have had water for all uses other than drinking.  It was quite laughable this morning.  One of our boys brought a small fish to live in our house.  I couldn't figure where it had come from, but as I am looking out the window at the "lake" I can see little fish jumping.  Anyone out there able to explain this to me?

School has been closed the last few days--when the government declares that schools be closed, it means schools are closed! Apparently you can get in big trouble if you don't close. Even private schools.  I suspect no one checked this morning, because after two days with all of us locked in the hostels (locked in by the rain) we were all a little crazy.  By the time the children ran their short distance to the school, they were soaked. Now we'll probably have everyone back sick.  I took a few children with my umbrella, and had to come home and completely start over on my clothes for the day.  To complicate things, the puppies have not left for their new homes.  Their new owners keep telling me that it is not auspicious to take them in the rain!!  Of course I am their adopted mother, which is also a 24/7 job when it rains like this.  At the moment they are locked in our bathroom, because the electrician is trying to fix another electrical problem (joke) and they were spending their time where one of the main panels resides.  Why do I care???

We have been concerned about the news out of Mumbai, but here at the land we feel very safe. No one would have a desire to brave our muddy-rut roads to do harm.  We are not being cavalier about it, but do feel that we are in a good spot.  Ron, unfortunately, had to go to Chennai today.  He called to say they were swimming through the streets in their vehicle.  We have heard that 60 people may have drowned or died in this last rain period.  The rivers run wild with this amount of precipitation all at once, and they live so precariously near the rivers.

This week, picture us not "Walking in the Sand", but walking in the mud!