Splooshie Pavers

So today, after getting all "thing" about people lighting fires in and around the building, I was washing dishes and I looked out to see half a dozen firemen - one of them carrying an orange rolled-up hose - running up the road from the complex back gate. They disappeared between some of the apartment blocks, and some interested onlookers followed them. I couldn't see or smell smoke, and I could hear an ambulance or fire-engine out on the main road at the back gate - the back gate has been blocked to traffic for some weeks now due to road-works, only pedestrians can pass.

Well, talk about a damp squib. Nothing happened. They walked back out after a few minutes. False alarm I guess.

The road outside the front of our complex is very well used. There are the usual four traffic lanes - two central ones, and then bike lanes at each side separated by trees/bushes/kerbing from the main flow. In our street there have been large trees doing the separating job, but some are considerably worse for wear and some have been removed by sawing them off a couple of inches above the level of the road and leaving the stump of a stump firmly embedded in the bitumen. Quite a trap for unwary riders and pedestrians and even larger vehicles. The road surface itself is a bit of a rollercoaster ride with undermining tree-roots and wear and tear from heavy vehicles, plus of course the frequent patches where the road has been "fixed".

The pavement seems to be the safest place to walk, although it is unusually narrow. As this is a red-light district, there is plenty of friendly banter as you pass by. And there are numerous little shops and businesses along the way to turn your head and peer into, so it's never a boring stroll.

Further down the road the businesses mostly involve welding, painting, constructing iron and steel furniture or utilities of various sorts. The shops themselves are tiny, no more than a suburban garage, and are inhabited by the wife and kids (who are sitting around watching TV, eating lunch, washing clothes etc.) and also used as a show-room for the product under construction. So naturally, the actual business of manufacturing takes place on the narrow sidewalk, even out into the bike-lane if necessary.

With all this happening, walking home from work is always a bit of an adventure. Dodging around ... many obstacles , and smiling at and greeting all the curious locals as you go. Every now and then you come to a little bit of an open space on the side-walk, no obstruction, stride out. The pavers here are a little unevenly laid, and then SPLOOSH! You turn around and look back - nothing! But your feet are definitely wet.

Its scary to think what is just under the surface of those trick pavers! The water must be very close, and just schloops up over the edge as the paver tips slightly. It doesn't always have a sweet perfume either ...