Enjoy the small moments: B.C. woman spreads positivity reviewing hundreds of fire hydrants
'I get a little thrill every time I find a hydrant,' Sadie says before pointing to the rounded top of a red one. 'This is the shape I like.'
Sadie's keen interest in fire hydrants began when she happened to see one without a round top.
'I thought it was unjust that they didn't have hats,' Sadie says. 'I wanted to know why they didn't have hats.'
So, Sadie started doing research, discovered they weren't missing 'hats' and that they just had different shaped bonnets. She spent the next couple weeks sending countless pictures of the various hydrants she happened upon to her best friend Renee Fournel.
'It became a hyper fixation for her that I was not on the same page with,' Renee smiles. 'But I was being a supportive friend.'
So, Renee encouraged Sadie to start sharing her fire hydrant finds on social media. Sadie launched a couple of social media accounts using the name Hydrant Girl, and began posting videos reviewing the hydrants she saw.
'I try to keep a blank mind until I get up there,' Sadie says as she approaches a hydrant. 'So, I can give it a purely in-the-moment review.'
Sadie – who co-owns a hair salon with Renee – assesses the aesthetics of each hydrant and records her comments on qualities, ranging from design, to paint condition, to adornments.
'My favourite thing about these is they have four stem nuts,' Sadie says about a blue and white hydrant.
'Keep going nature,' Sadie says when spotting a hydrant being enveloped by tall grass and vines. 'You reclaim that hydrant!'
'If he were an adult man,' Sadie comments on a hydrant that appears to be wearing a monocle. 'He would have a tweed suit and a moustache.'
After almost a year, Sadie says she has reviewed more than 250 hydrants and counting.
'There's only so many hydrant shapes,' Sadie says. 'So, we got to spice it up a little.'
So now Sadie sometimes wears a red fire hydrant costume while filming her critiques.
'Ten out of ten!' Sadie gives a thumbs up in her full body costume. 'I've never seen a hydrant with a green top in this neighbourhood.'
Sadie's Hydrant Girl reviews have inspired a quirky community of fans that includes actual fire fighters and more than a couple of city workers – who recently reached out about a hydrant at the end of its life.
'We're replacing it tomorrow,' Renee recalls a city worker messaging Sadie. 'You should come by and say 'hi'. We're all huge fans.'
When Sadie did, they gave her the decommissioned hydrant as a gift. While it's currently being kept in her apartment, Renee has agreed for it to have a permanent home in their salon.
'It's brought a lot of fun into my life,' Sadie says of her hydrant hobby. 'And a lot of laughter.'
And while it's said we should take the time to stop and smell the roses, Sadie is also inviting us to pause and appreciate the potential of a fire hydrant to extinguish negativity.
'Enjoy the small moments,' Renee smiles. 'And find pleasure and goodness in the little day-to-day things in our lives.'
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