WEDNESDAY, MARCH 22, 2023 - WORLD WATER DAY

 WEDNESDAY, MARCH 22, 2023 - WORLD WATER DAY

National World Water Day

I remember very few things about the Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.  But, the most pronounced was this:

Water, water, everywhere,

Nor any drop to drink.

If you will, the ancient mariner was in a lifeboat on the seas after the crew’s boat sank.  In desperation, he shoots an albatross and brings bad luck to the lifeboat.  They were surrounded by seawater (salty) and while drinkable did not slake their thirst.  Drinking saltwater made them thirstier

(Yes, Ms. Hamilton - I did learn a few things from our poetry section in ninth-grade English class!!! <grin>)

*****

Today (Wednesday, March 22, 2023) is World Water Day.  Although the focus is more on the global world and the need for water, I’m living in Central Texas where water is scarce.  From the Louisiana border all the way to the Pacific Ocean, the southwestern states are generally arid.  Californians almost always seem to fight to get enough water.

California’s economy and culture have always been shaped by the abundance or scarcity of water.

The Golden State’s economy, agricultural production, and population have grown to number one in the nation, largely in pace with the development of its water resources.  

California receives 75 percent of its rain and snow in the watersheds north of Sacramento. However, 80 percent of California’s water demand comes from the southern 2/3 of the state.

And occasionally there is an abundance of water (like this winter with heavy snow) - and that causes havoc as well - with floods, avalanches stress on dams

I will return to water sometime in the future.  But, let’s close with some water quotes:

"All is born of water; all is sustained by water." (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)

"Even springs and wells dry up if you draw from them too often and too much." (Demosthenes)

"When the well is dry, we know the worth of water." (Benjamin Franklin)

"All the water that will ever be is, right now." (from National Geographic)

"The earth, the air, the land, and the water are not inherited from our fathers, but are on loan from our children. So we must be handed over to them at least as they were handed over to us." (Mahatma Gandhi)

"Water is the matter and matrix of life, mother, and medium. Without water there is no life." (Albert Szent-Györgyi)

Thousands have lived without love, not one without water." (W. H. Auden)

"We forget that the water cycle and the life cycle are one." (Jacques Yves Cousteau)

And a not-so-serious quote:

"Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody." (Mark Twain)
“Water is scarce, shower with a friend” (web suggestion)

LOVE WINS
LOVE TRANSFORMS
KAREN ANNE WHITE, ©, MARCH 22, 2023

And a water joke: 
Q: What did the fish say when he bumped into a concrete wall? 
A: Oh Dam