sputtering taps

It's not so easy to get running water in the permafrost of the North. Several times per week, Kugluktuk's faithful water and sewage troops make the rounds, filling us up or emptying us out, guided by the all-important red lights on the front of each home.

Once in a great while (as they say around here), some wires get crossed and our water delivery is missed. The desperate slurping of the water pump and our sputtering taps are a warning to be on the lookout for the water truck, to wave it down for a refill. Over Christmas, unwilling to drag people from their families, we went a couple of days before getting topped up. Today, when we ran dry, it wasn't too long before we caught the truck making its rounds and got quickly replenished.