On The Drought

       

You know there’s a drought when farmers and fishermen alike cut back on water usage. You know there’s a drought when we pour leftover water on plants…or take showers only every couple of days…or rinse out the sink using a cup rather than a stream of water. You know there’s a drought when the weather mavens determine whether we have rain or drizzle by the size of the miniscule droplets of water. In California these are the things that get our attention these days. And when the late-night comedians take them on, we know we’re in trouble because they’re doing what they do best…making fun of things that aren’t funny!

A One-Time Gift...

Some decades ago it blew me away to discover that water was a one-time gift. Like so many other non-critical thinkers, I thought that water rained on earth endlessly from the heavens. Not so, it appears. Apparently water was bequeathed to the planet just once over the billions of years of planetary formation, and we are now part of its great, recycling systems. This means we must take care of our seas, rivers, lakes, reservoirs and underground aquifers, for once emptied, they take a long time to refill. And such a strange, recycling pattern it is. Parts of our country wash away in floods, tornados, and hurricanes while California and the American southwest parch and blister.

Conserve...conserve...

Barring some elegant technology that we know nothing about yet, the drought stricken among us have our marching orders. Conserve, conserve; use as little water on outdoor plants as possible. Brown is the new green; pray, perform rain dances (works for me), and become more ingenious as we can at living lives a little dirtier than we might like.

Looks like the term, “no sweat,” is going to become a call to action!


More Essays About Everything is now available on Amazon
http://tinyurl.com/kxsb47c

You might also enjoy "On the Summer of 1963"