Rain Rain go AWAY
Get out the tool box, it's time to build an ark. It's been raining for ages. March went out like a lion instead of a lamb. April's showers are early. The sky is dark. It's damp and windy. I am g-r-o-u-c-h-y.On the way to the metro I got completely drenched. It happened in slo-mo. And a few seconds before it happened - I knew it would. It was like what they do on sit-coms where they show the actor looking both ways to set-up the action. As the bus came pounding down the road at great speed I noticed 3 things at once: a) a huge pool of standing water right in the bus wheel's path, b) that there were no parked cars to shield me in this spot c) there was no room to move away because there's a hedge along the garden for a few meters in each direction. Done for. 10 seconds later, I turned around on the way home to change. My work shoes and dress socks squeaky wet. My trousers covered in a soggy, scrabbly, dirty scumble. Nice.
Brussels seems to get water-logged easily. Every drain seems to be overflowing; the ones by the curbs, in front of buildings, in gardens. The excellent city tunnels routinely close after a downpour because they get flooded within minutes - totally paralyzing the city because even more polluting cars are forced on to the maze of crazy roads. When the tunnels are clear, you can effortlessly get from Montgomery to Avenue Louise or Downtown within minutes. With a day or two of rain - forget it. There's mini ponds in those tunnels. The ground is a splodgy, spongy consistency. Like there's never going to be enough sun to dry the stuff out. A real possibility in Brussels.
There's a super-useless, extra door on the ground floor of my house. Not only is it only 2 meters from my front door, but it's also got a locked iron gate in front of it and no one's ever had the key to unlock it. The super-fun part about having this extra door, (which would so helpfully provide access from my patio to my kitchen were you to be able to open it) is that it's no longer watertight. Since our latest barrage of rain, the bottom seal has been breached and water now sloshes in when there's a major downpour. Nice, nice. I cannot seal it properly again until it is completely dry. A very attractive addition to my decor, I have soggy bath towels folded inside the super-useless extra door as a first line of defense.
I won't talk about the mud pit that is my garden. No one needs to hear me moan about that again. My Wellies are stationed by my front door next to the mop - ready for action.
Tonight I will have a friend over and we will order from Tom Yam - a great Thai restaurant and they deliver! - A rarity in Brussels. I love their spicy seafood salad: a very piquant dressing made of fish sauce, white vinegar, lemongrass, ginger, a bit of cane sugar, fresh scotch bonnet peppers and birdseye chilies over huge, curly, tender rolls of calamari and big, juicy shrimp, tons of cooling cucumber, mild red onions. All the senses - sweet, sour, hot, mild. I also crave their duck with Thai basil: The duck breast slices are tender and the sauce, slow-cooked, is layered with thai flavors - tamarind, Kecap manis, dark soy, fish sauce - and at the last minute, tons of fresh Thai basil, just wilted in the sauce - fragrant, spicy, warming.
Well, that's cheered me right up! :-))
posted by Brussels Confidential @ 11:00 AM
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