THE LAWS OF NATURE
You must have heard that 'what goes up must come down.' This is the law of gravity and is practically experienced when objects are thrown in the air and a consequential fall occurs, except the wind blows such a light object away; however, it eventually falls somewhere. We have other laws of nature, such as that of grandiosity, which celebrates successes even in small quantities. Man is guided by laws, either natural or artificial.
WHAT IF THERE WERE NO LAWS?
CHAOS! Have you had the occasion to control or guide people? You will agree with me that it can be difficult, especially based on differing opinions and upbringings. Every man wants to dominate and exercise rulership. Fortunately and unfortunately, THE WORLD WAS NOT CREATED FOR JUST AN INDIVIDUAL, thus, a need to live HARMONIOUSLY and in CONSIDERATION OF ONE ANOTHER. Chaos is bound to happen if every man is left to live and act as deemed fit. The territorial and dominant man wants to have all things to himself, a form of acquisition and rulership that, thankfully, has been subdued under man-made laws. Oftentimes, man is compelled to live within the provisions of the law, which may not necessarily be by will.
A little dive into my immediate environment and community. I live in a lookalike government-reserved area (GRA), where the residents are either influential people or those guided by law and order. My area is still considered a GRA setting since we are surrounded by influential people in the heart of the city and needful amenities are available, at least in reasonable amounts.
COMMUNITY DECISIONS AND NEIGHBOURHOOD DYNAMICS
I have been living here for about two years, and we have encountered issues that relate to the community and sometimes are limited to my compound. The number of flats in my compound is four, and we are all mature people. I am the only one who is unmarried in the compound. Our major issue in the compound is the pumping machine, which has experienced at least three faults since my arrival here. It is always a tug of war to get one or two neighbors to cooperate for us to get the pumping machine repaired since the landlord would not take the responsibility. One of my neighbors said at a point that he would not pay more than a certain amount of money because he is not usually around and has responsibility for other houses he rents in different parts of the country. Occasionally, when there is no power supply to power the pumping machine, other neighbors are reluctant to volunteer their generator sets for that purpose. Unfortunately for me, I use a solar/inverter system and cannot carry the load of the pumping machine. Thus, I am left to fend for myself when water becomes scarce in the compound.
THE ROADS WITHOUT DRAINAGE
Every household should make provisions for a drainage system that would help to maintain the road and prevent erosion. Only a few households have gutters around their houses, and unfortunately for us, those that do not have gutters are more on the upper slope, which often correlates with worsening roads.
Just last year, a few neighbors came together and began to drill SHALLOW gutters bilaterally from the upper section of the slope. I didn't get any notification of what was being done, nor has my compound been invited to a community meeting, as it is practiced in some parts of the town. The shallow gutters were dug during the rainy season (first mistake), and they were easily filled up again. The gutters were not deep enough and not straight, as neighborhood security was employed rather than contract artisans. One of the prominent people in the area brought big gravel stones and began filling the eroded parts of the road with sacks of sand placed strategically to mitigate erosion and flooding. My car took the fall for it as it constantly had its base hit the stones, risking my engine and absorbers.
EVERYONE LIVES AND DOES WHAT SEEMS BEST
A PART OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD WITH DRAINAGE
Personally, I would prefer the roads be graded rather than the mess created by the stones and shallow gutters. Recently, I have had to infrequently ply that part of the road that leads to my house and focus on the other side, which was graded by a distant neighbor but served us equally. I'm a tenant, and I have a little say in calling for a community meeting, but if such comes up, I'll gladly be present to give my support and ideas.
Here is my entry into #aprilinleo monthly and daily prompts. You can participate via this LINK
ALL IMAGES ARE MINE EXCEPT OTHERWISE SOURCED
Thank you for reading. I would love to have your comments and contributions.