True love is inexhaustible; the more you give, the more you have. And if you go to draw at the true fountainhead, the more water you draw, the more abundant is its flow.
–Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Today I am thinking about water.
Throughout the rainy month of May we collected rain water in barrels for the flowers, vegetables, and ducks. Last summer I
just turned on the waterhose or sprinkler and went on about my air-conditioned business inside the house, usually forgetting I left the water running or that I even had flowers.
With the rain barrels I have to physically walk the water around the yard to give each plant a drink. Oddly, this seems like less of a chore than turning on the water hose. For one thing, it forces me to spend more time outside actually looking at the flowers and appreciating them. It’s certainly friendlier than shooting at them from a distance with the hose’s handheld nozzle like they’re zombies I’m trying to keep at bay.
With the watering can it’s all intimate. We get upclose and personal; we talk.
We have had little rain this month. The hot air is perfumed with sun-baked roses. The waterbarrels are empty. When El-D suggested we start getting water from the pond for the garden I looked at him like he’d grown two heads. Dude, that pond is WAY back there and our flowers and vegetables are WAY up here, and-and-AND we DO have running water!
But it made me stop to think….
What if we didn’t?
There are plenty of people who don’t.
Fortunately, I have people in my life who remind me on a regular basis to keep my over-priviledged head on straight, like my friend Amy, who is a teacher-from-the-heart. Every year her school does a “World Tour” during which each class studies a country. They make displays and put on performances to share what they learned. Her class studies Kenya every year. This year they watched a video about the life of a young Maasai boy. Her students are always struck by the fact that his mother and sisters have to walk every day to get water from the same water hole the animals use.
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June 13, 2013 at 10:43 pm
Maddie Cochere
I appreciate this post. Not only did I enjoy reading about the watering of your flowers, but I think your friend is doing a wonderful thing to help raise money for clean water. We do take many things for granted, don’t we? We finally turned our air conditioner on last night for the first time — only it didn’t come on. It’s looking more and more like it’s expensive electrical work inside the house, so we will do without. Many people do, and I have to remember that I did for a big part of my life. We’ll manage.
June 14, 2013 at 3:57 am
Lunar Euphoria
Yes — so many things taken for granted. It’s a wonderful thing Amy is doing for the children at home and abroad.
Bummer about your AC! I know what that’s like. Hope you keep cool.
June 14, 2013 at 1:54 pm
Amy
Thank you so much for sharing our little project! I’d like to see it become an annual thing at our school. I’m going to try to make it to the yoga event, but if I can’t find someone to watch my boys I’ll have to pass. No one can relax when they are around! Again, thanks so much for sharing!
June 15, 2013 at 9:35 pm
Lunar Euphoria
My pleasure! I hope you find someone to watch them so you can make it.
I have a “Yoga for Kids” class bouncing around in the back of my mind as a “might be fun someday soon” idea.
I’ve been using my yoga training in the practice recently by teaching breathing exercises to support speech/voice projection and I recently read a fascinating essay an a book on Translational Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology that mixes yoga and speech therapy, which got me all interested in yoga for kids in general.
ANYWAY, I hope you can come!
June 15, 2013 at 4:24 pm
Kathy
Water is precious indeed. We can so take it for granted until our land gets thirsty and dried-up and prune-like. This morning it finally rained here for a while and the garden drank. Less than a quarter inch, but better than the sterile ice cold water from the hose. The baby plants are grinning. Lunar, where do you live again? I forget.
June 15, 2013 at 9:39 pm
Lunar Euphoria
I’m in Memphis, Tennessee. Come for vacation! 😀
July 26, 2013 at 3:03 am
Mokasiya
Lunar,
I appreciate your writing about water and sharing the lovely quote from Antoine de Saint Exupery and for liking my blog.
blessings on the journey,
mokasiya