September 5 - Water

The word for today was "hydrate", but I'm not quite sure what to make of that.  I'm starting to think that the list I posted had to do with taking photographs, not writing posts, but never mind.  Today  I'm going to write about the more simple word: water.

To have running water is a luxury I take for granted until I don't have it.  When we lived in the country we had a well which ran on an electric pump which meant if the electric went out there was no water.  No water to wash with, drink, flush toilets, water gardens, give to the animals, do laundry.  I learned early on to have water stored away for these emergencies, but I was careful to ration it and it was never enough.  When the electric came back and the water flowed again I breathed a sign of thanks. 

I live in town now and when the electric goes off we still have water because the town has an emergency generator.  Every month we get our water bill I think it's too high until I remember what it's like to not have water.

And then there's rain. In The Probable Future, Alice Hoffman writes of a taxonomy of rain:  fish rain, rose rain, daffodil rain, glorious rain, red clover rain, boot polish rain, swamp rain, and the fearsome stone rain.  I live in Oregon.  I know all those rains.

Water is so important and so common that it's easily taken for granted.  I am grateful for it always, no matter if it comes from the earth or the sky, even when I complain about winter rains.