WATER

 

       Water is a resource that doesn’t get much of my attention. I don’t think the majority of my family and friends spend too much time thinking about water, especially here in the Northwest where it rains a lot. I admit I spent a bit of time thinking about water as I drank a lot of water the past couple of days, plus I’ll probably continue as long as my diet includes the ham in the fridge.

You see, on Sunday I baked a ham. I had ham for dinner and boy, was I thirsty. Then, I had ham for lunch and dinner yesterday and if I had been thirsty on Sunday, by Monday evening, I was as parched as the Sahara. This ham-induced thirst led to my epiphany.

Water, ice cold, ice cubes clinking against the water bottle. Gulp after gulp was wonderful. I couldn’t get enough. The feel of it’s iciness in my mouth, cascading down my throat and into my stomach. I was sure I knew what those characters in the old cartoons that crawled across the desert felt. I could hardly get enough water. I filled my water bottle at least three times yesterday afternoon and evening. Of course, that resulted in countless trips to the bathroom.

During this craving for water and more water, I tried to imagine what it would be like to live someplace else in the world where water is scarce, a luxury that I couldn’t afford to guzzle. That made me think about the various stories that report on how our water resources are in danger of becoming rare even though the world has so much water.

Still thirsty, I decided I didn’t want to reflect on a life that wouldn't allow me to drink all I wanted, especially not when my water bottle was in need of a refill and my thirst hadn’t yet been fully quenched.