Two Hydrogens, one Oxygen

On Friday, we received a significant amount of rain in a very short period, leaving most of the area with standing water. Our basement was no exception. Water poured through our basement windows that day, leaving the carpet-covered floor with standing water. I turned up the dehumidifier, hoping it would solve the problem, but quickly realized it was to no avail when the musty smell of stagnant water permeated my nostrils yesterday. As Adam and were on our hands and knees last night ripping up the waterlogged indoor /outdoor carpet, it struck me how just a little bit of water could cause so much stink and damage.

Water is a truly amazing thing. Of the four elements in existence, water seems to be the one with the most significantly overriding “two-faced” qualities. Certainly, fire can be just as, if not more, destructive. But water? Water can destroy things in an instant, yet it also creates such poignant, beautiful memories in our lives. Water knows how to make a decision. It cannot be stopped.

Without water, your body could only survive a few days—a week would be considered miraculous. Without food, you could sustain yourself for about a month. Heck, you can even live without air for a full 3 minutes. I would not suggest testing that, though.

At least half of your body is—you guessed it—water. Your brain alone is 70% H20. You need water for your body to function, to clean you and to revive you after a hot day where it’s lost from your pores as sweat. There is no cost to acquire water and with the touch of your hand, it flows from faucets in your home. Yet, we pay money to buy water pre-packaged in bottles that we are now told cannot be reused. It has been tucked neatly away in most everything you eat, absorbed into your body without notice.

Think of all the memories you have that involve water. The swimming lessons you took as a child, learning strokes and spending days on end at the local pool with your friends in the hot summer sun. You jumped off the diving board in a cannonball, competing over who had the biggest splash. You paid a visit to the salty ocean and lazily snoozed on the beach to the calming sounds of waves lapping on the sandy shore. You grabbed the garden hose to fill up your squirt gun in the midst of a water fight with your brother. You filled balloons with H20 to drop on an unsuspecting victim. Water cooled you down after a hot summer day, and froze on the sidewalk you slipped on that winter morning. Your heart raced as your car began to slide on the black ice covering the roadway, as you pumped your breaks and tried to recall whether you were supposed to turn into or out of the ensuing skid.

Water cleanses you each day, breathing new life and moisture into your once dirty skin. It washes away your troubles and cares for just a moment before you return to the hustle and bustle of your busy life. It has no calories, no preservatives, no sugar, no cholesterol, no fat, no nothing. It flies swiftly down the drain, is treated by the city and comes right back to you as quickly as it left. It sits patiently in your toilet bowl, waiting for you each day without question.

Water falls from the sky, damaging all it touches in excess or creating a significant deficit in its non-existence. Without it, meteorology and the art of prediction would be a dying art. The art of fire fighting would be nearly futile.

Water giveth, and then it taketh away. It kills, scares, injures and maims many, all while sustaining so many more. It strikes fear into our hearts, which ironically are 75% water. Without precaution, education or practice within it, serious consequences ensue. It’s as beautiful and peaceful as it is ugly and horrendous.

Water sits stagnant, a breeding ground for mosquitoes in your backyard and seeps into your basement, ruining the most prized of your possessions. Left unattended, it grows into hairy mold on the rafters. Water probably choked you once, scared you more times that you can count, yet you never dream of ending your torrid love affair. As much as water hurts you, irritates you or even destroys you, you still come back for more.

Think about all of this the next time you go to a restaurant and when prompted for what you would like to drink, you say, “I’ll just have water.”