Today I saw the alert on-line for a mandatory water conservation notice. No outside watering of any type if I correctly understand it. Wow, this is painful! I understand the need to conserve water, it is just hard to see all my work drying up and dying. Maybe the rain doesn't fall on the just and the unjust...hmmm, not sure that I've got that quite right!
I have been trying to water carefully. As soon as I saw the notice for a voluntary water ban I removed all the plants that were not growing well. I tried to avoid watering during peak usage periods. However, our absence of any rain pretty much has us stuck!
I guess I will begin using a dishpan for washing my dishes and save the water to put on my perennials like rhubarb and my blackberries. I can take baths instead of showers and use that water for my new ferns and stuff on the deck.
Some of the on-line comments about the water conservation notice talked about the need for adequate water for firefighting. I just saw another on-line news item about a wildfire in the county. The dry, windy, hot weather is a terrible recipe for outside fires. I hope everyone understands how much we risk if we aren't all careful at this time.
Our home burned down years ago. No one was injured but we lost an incredible amount of stuff. It eventually helped me see that possessions just aren't that important. However, a destructive fire is dangerous and a waste of resources. Anytime there is a fire when the temperatures are this hot, the firefighters and rescue workers are in real danger. My prayers go with them.
Disasters like fires, storms, or droughts, should remind us that we have responsibilities as members of the larger community. It should cause us to grow in compassion towards those who are suffering. The Husband and I went with a group of friends to volunteer after the Joplin, Mo. tornadoes, and we saw that kind of concern and compassion expressed for others.
Problems on a local level bring the reality of larger issues into focus. Invariably institutions, such as local governments, won't get it all right. Mistakes will be made. Some people will be benefited more, some people will be penalized unequally. It can be a catalyst for improvement or a source of bitterness.
Yesterday I saw my state representative on the way to a check-out line. We stopped to rhapsodize over the joys of grand-parenthood. I told her that I was proud and delighted with the job she has done as my representative and she seemed genuinely touched. It made me sad to realize how very critical I frequently am of people who have responsibility for a larger community. And not just me. I look at Facebook, television, papers and almost every other current events avenue and I am horrified by the verbal brutality and partisanship. I understand that there are important issues, even lives at stake...BUT...do we really need to be so inhuman to carry out our civic responsibilities. Surely if we were as responsible as possible we could help leaders do a better job. Hold them accountable and help them do the work and give them credit when it was due. Again I invite you to join me in praying for rain and to also pray for "all those in authority".
I have been trying to water carefully. As soon as I saw the notice for a voluntary water ban I removed all the plants that were not growing well. I tried to avoid watering during peak usage periods. However, our absence of any rain pretty much has us stuck!
 |
| Water conservation dishpan tool |
Some of the on-line comments about the water conservation notice talked about the need for adequate water for firefighting. I just saw another on-line news item about a wildfire in the county. The dry, windy, hot weather is a terrible recipe for outside fires. I hope everyone understands how much we risk if we aren't all careful at this time.
Our home burned down years ago. No one was injured but we lost an incredible amount of stuff. It eventually helped me see that possessions just aren't that important. However, a destructive fire is dangerous and a waste of resources. Anytime there is a fire when the temperatures are this hot, the firefighters and rescue workers are in real danger. My prayers go with them.
Disasters like fires, storms, or droughts, should remind us that we have responsibilities as members of the larger community. It should cause us to grow in compassion towards those who are suffering. The Husband and I went with a group of friends to volunteer after the Joplin, Mo. tornadoes, and we saw that kind of concern and compassion expressed for others. |
| Two photos from Joplin, Mo. tornado damage |
Yesterday I saw my state representative on the way to a check-out line. We stopped to rhapsodize over the joys of grand-parenthood. I told her that I was proud and delighted with the job she has done as my representative and she seemed genuinely touched. It made me sad to realize how very critical I frequently am of people who have responsibility for a larger community. And not just me. I look at Facebook, television, papers and almost every other current events avenue and I am horrified by the verbal brutality and partisanship. I understand that there are important issues, even lives at stake...BUT...do we really need to be so inhuman to carry out our civic responsibilities. Surely if we were as responsible as possible we could help leaders do a better job. Hold them accountable and help them do the work and give them credit when it was due. Again I invite you to join me in praying for rain and to also pray for "all those in authority".
here here margaret! well said!
ReplyDelete