Taking Water For Granted {Spin Cycle}

I kissed Ed goodby, but my mouth was parched and my lips were dry. I had just come home from my morning walk, and I was dying from thirst. I came in the house, hugged Emmy good morning, and then went to the kitchen for a glass of water. A nice, big, full glass of cool water.

Sometimes I think we take water for granted. We turn on the faucet and water automatically comes out. It’s an amazing thing, but we don’t think much about it.

I’m always fascinated by my father’s stories of growing up poor in a small country town. If I’m remembering my father’s story correctly, they had a pump in the kitchen and could get washing water from the pump. In order to get drinking water, however, the kids had to go up the hill to Grandma’s house to get water from the good well. No running water meant…take a guess…no bathroom! Dad’s family had to use an outhouse until he was well into his teens. And this was in the 40’s and 50’s…not so long ago!

It was when I lived in a house alone in the country that I realized how much I take water for granted. One blustery morning I turned on the shower…and nothing came out. I called my landlord, and she said something must be wrong with the well pump. The man who came out to fix it said that the wind was blowing so hard through the pump house that a belt had come loose. In this case, solving my water problem was easy.

Some water problems are a little harder to fix. It was only a couple of months before the well incident when I hopped into the car with my parents. Mom handed me my anti-nausea pill and a water bottle. As soon as I took a drink, I grimaced and almost spit it out. I asked Mom, “What did you put in this?” It tasted terrible, as though I had just swallowed a mouthful of aluminum. Mom insisted that she hadn’t put anything in the water. We soon realized that the chemotherapy treatment I had just had was messing with my taste buds.

Memory fades, however, and daily life intrudes on our gratefulness. I still take water for granted and don’t even think about it when I turn on the dishwasher or do the laundry. I don’t even think about how water once was unpalatable when I take a drink after a long walk.

Water. I’ve written over 400 words about water, and I haven’t even scratched the surface. I haven’t written about swimming or how I miss the beach this year or about our trip to Niagara Falls last year.

Niagara Falls

Second Blooming
What do you love about water?

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11 Replies to “Taking Water For Granted {Spin Cycle}”

  1. My parents used to tell stories about carrying water from the well. It always seemed sort of romantic to me, but you know it must have been grueling! I have been much more careful with water since living in Los Angeles, where we are ALWAYS in a drought. It drives me crazy when I'm here in New York, and my mother-in-law will turn the water on in the sink and let it run forever!

    You are linked!!
    My recent post Water, Water Every Where

    1. Visiting a place like LA does make me realize how lucky we are in the Midwest. We were in the middle of a drought this summer, and the farms are really suffering. I think we just had some rainy days across the area that hopefully have helped.
      My recent post Little Fishes

  2. You are so right that we take water for granted–especially the wonderful water we get from Lake Michigan! (I'm being serious for those blog readers who don't live in the area. The well water that some of the other burbs get smells and tastes awful!)

    I was reminded of this a couple summers ago when some friends and I took a trip to Michigan. We rented a house in a rural community and almost couldn't stand taking a shower. Everything smelled like rotten eggs! Oh the sulfur!

    Thank goodness they got those Lake Michigan water lines pumping in the good stuff!
    My recent post Summertime No-Bake Dessert: Grown-up Sundae

  3. Very true… it’s very easy to take things for granted and even complain for stuff that doesn’t even matter! I had a friend complain about not having a dish washer just recently… and It made me remember when, living in Mexico, there was a time when we didn’t even have running water inside the house and we had to go get buckets outside… when we finally had running water in the sink we would even FIGHT to wash the dishes!!! those fights ended quick though and we took water for granted too! … it’s easy to get comfortable… sometimes I miss not having so much stuff… (even when for many people I here we don’t have a lot… I KNOW we do)… because when you’d have even if just a little bit it was such a big party! 🙂

  4. You're so right. We don't think about a lot of things until there's a problem…Right now I'm struggling with drinking enough water. Why is this hard for me? Anyway, thanks for the reminder to appreciate the gift of water!

    Oh, and one thing I love about water is my little water oasis in my own backyard. It's a lovely water fountain. Love it! I used to have a water garden, but this is a whole lot easier and so relaxing.

  5. I was once on holiday in Spain and decided to make some tea. I used the tapwater, but that turned out to be salted! The tea was undrinkable and I had to get bottled water from the shops for everything!

    We have seen a lot of water this summer: so much rain came down, you wonder whether there is any water left up in the clouds!
    My recent post What if…

  6. How right you are Ginny! I live in a subdivision where our water supply runs on electricity and every time there's a power outage ( which fortunately is not very often ), we also get no water and we had to ask for help from outside and from the neighboring subdivision.

    We had to get in a long line and endure hours waiting for our turn to fill our containers with water. Those times make us realize the importance of water in our lives but after getting our power and water supply back, we're also back to taking water for granted.

    Yes, it becomes a cycle but thanks for this reminder. We really should learn to appreciate having water within easy reach more.

    My recent post Compound Interest: Split Personality

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