water

The other day I woke up to discover I had no water.  It happens.  The wind blows, the electric blinks, and sometimes the circuit to the well pump doesn't come on and the result is no running water.  The problem is I have a shared well and the circuitry is in the neighbors basement and unless I or someone else breaks into their house it won't get fixed.

At any rate, I found myself needing to get ready for work and there's not enough water to make coffee let alone take a shower.  To make matters worse, I was working outside the day before in the heat and humidity and felt pretty scuzzy.

A quick inventory showed I had almost one full bottle of water and another bottle with about two cups.  I opted to take the nearly full bottle to work and make due with the remaining two cups, just enough to brush my teeth and take a whores bath.

My meager two cups of water was enough for me to get by that morning.  It bothered me that I couldn't get what I wanted when I wanted it but there was no hardship.  It was simply a little inconvenient and I knew I'd have a shower waiting for me when I got back.  After all, humans can go a whole day without water before any serious complications set in and this was only a temporary situation.  But still, I felt a deep reverence for this clear liquid that can easily be the only thing between life and death.  A human can last for weeks without food but more than a day without water can leave you in dyer straights, and dieing of thirst is an ugly way to go.  Imagine the hangover that finally kills you and you'll get the picture.


~Just a side note... I seem to be obsessed with water, lately.  Turning on every faucet I pass just to watch and feel the cool, colorless liquid flow over my hands and quaffing gallons a day, with or without ice. Later that day, when my running water was fully restored, I discovered I had more water on hand than I realized.  Five quarts in the fridge, a half gallon in the freezer, three gallons in the store room, and two quarts in my car.  Have I been subconsciously stocking up for a time when I'll really need it?
Hmmmmmm........

The day before, I watched a movie called The Book of Eli, about a post-apocalyptic world where a nuclear exchange left a large hole in the sky, allowing the sun's full force to fry and blister the landscape, making water an extremely precious commodity.  The movie's protagonist managed to get by, as did everyone else who still survived, with drops from long dead faucets, possessions from hygiene-free, cannibalistic low lifes, and the occasional feral cat.

We're a far cry from that scenario but survivors in that potential situation are infinitely more equipped to handle a lack of water than your typical post-baby boomer.  Today's McDonalds generation humanoid will go into melt down if their phone doesn't get a signal, or they don't get their HFCS/aspartame-laden fluid du jour, or be able to take 20 minute showers on demand.

We all tend to take for granted Earth's ability to provide an abundant supply of water through evaporation, the formation of clouds, and rain in a seemingly endless cycle of unlimited life-ensuring fluids that we think it's going to be this way til the end of time.

Perhaps, but doesn't the Mayan calendar say the end of time will arrive in a little more than a year?  Think we should stock up?