My life between a trickle of water and rhymes about snow

Sometimes it is better to take it philosophically.  In fact, with fairytales and games. Of course, if it is true that a trickle of water comes out of the tap, it is easy to lose control.    But Osvaldo Mattana, 38, father of two daughters decided to use his imagination in order to turn a situation that, otherwise, would be unbearable into a sort of game; he tells his daughters some stories about snow, they go together to the garden and fill pots and vases, from which they obtain the water to prepare tea and pasta or more basically to flush the toilet.

 We are in Lavena Ponte Tresa, border municipality which overlooks the Ceresio, but despite the great visible amount of water, in the area of via Combi, on the "shore" of Lavena, only a "trickle" of water often drips out of the taps, and it often does also in a mumbling way.        An issue that has seen e-mails storm the offices of the town council since last June.    Then replies, claims, extensions and complaints, until the coming of the snow, which is a worry for many, and nearly an icy blessing for the Mattana’s.

"I’m glad that my daughters has taken to liking it, my wife and I have done everything for our daughters not to feel the weight of the matter…" Osvaldo explains. "When we throw snow into the toilet after using it we laugh out loud… or when we melt the snow to boil it and then to cook some pasta (see the pictures below, the buckets filled with snow, which is ready to be "turned" into water, these pictures were taken by Osvaldo).. For sure it is not so easy to do the washing-up with the snow or to set the alarm clock at night to check and to hope to have a trickle of water just to start the washing machine. This is the life we are leading at home. This is just a comment my daughter made yesterday:  ‘Dad, I washed my face at school before leaving so that we don’t have to melt the snow at home‘….".

This is a situation that, besides this family story, which, to be clear, is everything but pleasant, despite the biblical "calm" of Osvaldo, many inhabitants cannot stand.  Many of them, nearly twenty families living in via Combi wash themselves in the gym or somewhere else because the problem still lingers. On Saturday a meeting with the mayor Roncoroni  along with communal technicians was fixed, in order to take stock of the situation and to ask for the instalment of a tank of drinkable water.

Meanwhile, also the opposition made their move in this game; The counsellors Boniotto and Mastromarino, from the list "Fai vincere il paese" (Let the town win), have talked about a "water emergency" and they have proposed a motion to force the administration to summon a communal council urgently, where they can "explain and show publicly the situation to the inhabitants."

The mayor, who was questioned about the matter answers sharply.       "As for the lack of water, we had to face problems related to the ice and to the explosion of the pipes over the last weeks, and we have to do some technical works on it" said Pietro Roncoroni at the telephone.     As for this sort of problems, water is now available for everyone, there is nobody without. There are some problems in the upper part of the town, and we have to direct every available resources into it."

And what about the claim for an ad hoc communal council?    "Words are important", ended the mayor, "but now the work of the technicians is the priority: if there is any inefficiency, they must be reported to the technical office. I’m certain that they will find a solution."