Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
“But isn't it dangerous to have a huge tank of water on top of your house? What if the
roof collapsed?”
“If you happened to be standing underneath it, you'd probably die. Or at least need a
very big Band-Aid.”
Jane was obviously in one of her Ironic Moods. I decided not to play along.
“Where does the water come from?”
She laughed.
“The municipal water supply.”
“So it collects in the cistern over time? Doesn't it get stagnant?”
Without missing a beat, her tone shifted from sarcastic to expository.
“If everything's working properly, a pump circulates fresh water through the system on
a regular basis so it doesn't get stagnant.”
Nice to know.
“So where do we begin?”
“With me, as usual.”
“You'll get us some prices?”
“Pronto.”
Although cisterns consist of little more than a large plastic tank attached to a very
simple pump, we weren't particularly surprised to learn that they're absurdly expensive in
Vieques.
In fact, when Jane told us the price, there was a slightly satisfying “I knew it” element
to the whole thing. Once again we were being forced to shell out a lot of money for an ex-
pense we had never anticipated. This was threatening to become a pattern.
We chose a mid-price model. As Jane had foretold, it was large and black and, to my
eye, singularly unattractive. Oh, and there were two of them. Almost worse, our electri-
cian positioned the bright red switch needed to activate them almost exactly halfway up the
most prominent wall in the house (the south wall of the great room).
I tried to hide my distaste for these enormous black money-gobblers but eventually it
came tumbling out. Approaching our house from the rear one afternoon, after a short stroll
with Michael, I stopped dead in my tracks, transfixed by the cisterns' hideousness.
“What have we done to our poor house?” I wailed.
“We've made sure our guests don't get caught with shampoo-head,” Michael replied,
unperturbed. “And anyway,” he went on less convincingly, “they're really not so ugly.
Anyone who's anyone on the island has a cistern.”
“So you're saying they're a status symbol?”
He hesitated, but only for a moment.
“Absolutely,” he said with conviction.
On what planet?
I wanted to ask.
But I didn't.
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