"...Nor Any Drop to Drink."

Thus is the sentence ending of the line “Water, water everywhere…” from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

For a week, such was our lives. We had to have our water turned off due to a leak in our main pipes which required a water main line change. Of course, the leak would occur right before the Memorial Day weekend and the water company had a typical bureaucratic response. While it was most inconvenient, our neighbors were extremely kind to let us use their outdoor spigots to water our newly installed flower garden and fill containers so we could flush toilets.

It was interesting my thought process during this “home drought.” I was saying to one of the neighbors, “Well. This is a first world problem.” Then I stopped and thought. “No. Actually this is a third world problem that many people live with all the time.” I thought of those who never had running water, those who have lost water due to drought and war torn places, and those refugees who are struggling to find food and water. The rationing water made me think of the time I spent visiting my sister in Africa. She had limited electricity (rationed throughout the day) as well as limited running water. I remember filtering our kitchen water and learning to take cold showers.

I was also reading The Nightingale, by Kristin Hannah (highly recommend). Set in Occupied France during WWII, The Nightingale tells the story of two sisters as they navigate the war. The account of the deprivation/starvation/rationing of the people was fascinating, made all the more real since we were rationing our water.

In some ways it is amazing how quickly I forget basic survival skills. It just takes some planning and thinking. I can survive without water flowing from the tap. I just have to fill buckets and think of what water I will need through out the day. Of course, the beauty of consistently running water is that you do not have to think about it. And that can make us too compliant and wasteful.

For instance, how long does it take for running hot water to get hot? According to This Old House, if you ran your shower for 10 seconds you could collect between 1 1/3 and 1 2/3 gallons of water or 8-10 gallons per minute. All that water down the drain while you wait. (Of course, being on the public water system, the waste water is recycled to some extent.) But having had to lug gallon jugs of water from our neighbor to do the washing up in the kitchen, the number of gallons per minute, even for a quick shower seems obscene.

(In the past I have used pitchers or old milk bottles to collect the water as it warm and then use that water to water my plants. Reading about the number of gallons per minute, I am rethinking my plan and how best to collect and “save” all that water.)

As the pipe was being replaced I spoke with the water inspector. One of the things that I did not know was that our water flows due to gravitational force. To me that is unbelievable. How can we (or any of the other 60,000 town residents) get any water pressure at all. But we do.

While earlier civilizations in Egypt and India had aqueducts, it was the Romans who perfected the system: using gravitational force- through building pipes, tunnels, canals, bridges and the natural structure of the land. And that type of system (with some moderations, no lead pipes) is still being used today. What an engineering marvel.

I think of all the other type of “modern” conveniences that I take for granted: electricity, transportation, communication, refrigeration, heating, cooling- many inventions that came during the industrial and post industrial age. I very rarely give any of those services/utilities a thought. And perhaps it is a good thing that I do not spend too much time worrying about the day-to-day existence.

Yet this water situation has me thinking about other resources that I use/abuse. Do I turn off the lights when I leave a room? Have things delivered when I could wait and pick up a grouping of items during an one-errand trip? While we generally have at least one meatless meal a week, I am committed to regularly plan for meatless meals. I also intend on using my bicycle for local errands (fortunately there are two grocery stores nearby). I also want to find out more information about helping global communities obtaining drinkable water. Here is a start: Click here.

What about you? Have any water or electricity issues? What happened? Did you appreciate the service when it came back on? For how long?

I know that there are the skeptics who say that doing a little change in our behavior is a “drop in the bucket”. Yet, I firmly believe that if everyone did a little thing, it would add up to big change, because little things matter. You can find plenty of examples in the natural world: microscopic organisms (phytoplankton and the like) feeding the entire ocean food chain; millions of insects supporting the animal food chain as well as our agricultural system; 10^27 (billions of billions of billions) atoms making up one human body. If any of these organisms are depleted, lacking or harmed, the larger system suffers.

The older I get, the more I'm conscious of ways very small things can make a change in the world. Tiny little things, but the world is made up of tiny matters, isn't it? ~ Sandra Cisneros

Great things are done by a series of small things brought together. ~ Vincent Van Gogh

It's The Little Things...

A while back  I attended a lecture by the CEO and Dean of Medicine at one of our nation's top hospital/medical school.   He was talking about the future of medicine.  It was fascinating to hear not only what will be coming down the path in the next twenty years but also to hear the history of medical breakthrough.  According to him, the average lifespan for the first 199,000 years of human existence (give or take a couple thousand of years) was about forty-five years of age.  In the last 100 years we have seen life expectancy almost double- at least in the "developed" countries.  Many things play into that, good public health policies, cleanliness and vaccinations as well as the role of modern technology.

He reiterated how key it is to have basic research.  To be researching small, seemingly insignificant findings that develop and lead into larger medical applications.   For instance, he spoke of the research in looking at the phosphorescence of jelly fish.  It is one of those phenomenas that just happen, that was overlooked as something small and that no one thought about it.  One might think that is a waste of National Institutes of Health money exploring these creatures but in essence that green glow from the jelly fish has enabled scientists to track brain functioning which in turn can benefit those people with Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and other neurological diseases. 

Made me think of the little things in life and how important they truly are:  Fresh ingredients are key to a healthy meal.  Please and thank-you's are the back-bone of manners and civility.  Daily sleep and rest are essential to proper mental functioning.  Weeding is mandatory for a tame and plant identifiable garden. Learning a little information over a sustained period of time is better retained than through an intense cramming session. Watching the ball upon contact with the racquet is essential in getting the ball over the net.  

What about you?  Have you noticed the little things in your life?  Are they necessary? Or do you find them insignificant?  What small steps can you develop in your life that might benefit you in the long run?  Getting out of your chair for 5 minutes every 90 minutes of sitting?  Reducing your dessert intake by one a week?  Smiling and saying hello to your neighbor?  Reading a verse in the Bible every day?  Holding the door for a stranger? Playing a game with a child? 

There is an old nursery rhyme attributed to Benjamin Franklin who included it in his Poor Richard's Almanac.  The earliest known written version of the rhyme is in John Gower's "Confesio Amantis" dated approximately 1390.  It speaks to the consequence of not paying attention to the little  things.  In essence, life is all about the little things. 

For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.