Living in the desert makes one extremely aware of all things water: Rain, irrigation, harvesting water. A recent trip to Canada reminded me not everyone sees water in the same light. Normally this time of year Toronto is into the dry, with the lawns going brown in anticipation of Autumn rains. This year the rain has not let up. Everything was so 
amazingly green! My hostess showed me the guest bath, with such a deep tub and I immediately calculated how many times I could water my garden with what would be left after my bath. She laughed, and fill the master bathroom tub so I could enjoy the sybaritic luxury of immersing myself to the chin in hot water. Ahhhh, bliss.
The rain continued, sheets of it plunging off her roof, but let up in time for us to stroll through lovely Elora, peer down into the gorge, 
and fill my camera with images of magic forests and deep set caves. Book covers? Might be.
My time in Canada was so short, but I brought home memories of water darned near everywhere, bracing myself for the extended New Mexico drought. Except. I drove through a pounding rain and hail storm, to find (sit down for the shock) MUD in my yard. Yes, it had rained maybe an hour before I arrived home. And it has continued to 
rain nearly every day since. In fact the Fourth of July fireworks were provided by Mother Nature herself.
It will take a lot more mud to pull us out of the drought. But for now clouds gather and drop some moisture somewhere in the greater Albuquerque area at least once a day, and no one complains about the mud.
I joke about rain but take water issues seriously. So seriously I agreed to participate in Of Words and Water, an anthology of short stories and poetry. My contribution is “Prime Directive” and yes, it does honor Star Trek, as well as Twilight Zone. The download is free, they ask for a donation, which will benefit WaterAid, an organization dedicated to the concept of clean water for everyone.
For now, peace, love, and gorgeous skies to all
Mona Karel Author 
I was out after it finally rained here last night and it smelled so lovely and felt so nice on my skin. I wondered to myself about how awful it was when I lived back east and said horrible things about rain..I cherish every drop now
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I love water and appreciate having it. It drives me nuts when people allow water to run and waste while they are brushing their teeth.
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Green lawns in a drought area bother me
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Thank you, Mona for your eloquent sharing about water. The first thing I thought of was the few times I neglected to check my dogs’ water bucket and it was empty a couple of times. Okay, they only went without the vital liquid for a few hours, but that still made me feel terrible. When my 2 year-old grandson plays out back on a warm day, I put the hose on a trickle and have him water all the potted plants. The job eventually gets finished, but not before he’s soaking wet. At least all the run-off goes down to the grass. What gets me is all the variety of water you can buy in a market, with sugar, protein, and colored additives. I like the hard stuff, 100% pure, no ice.
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Great piece about the importance of water. Thanks for being willing to talk about the vitality of a substance we all take for granted, until it’s gone.
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Water is something we don’t take for granted here, either. We harvest water in tanks, we have a recycling system on the septic tank and if the grass dies – too bad. It’ll come back. Drought is a constant here. The other side of the coin is The Wet, when we can easily get 4 inches (100mm) of rain and more in a day. That’s nature, though. You just have to live with her.
I’m so glad you’ve finally had some rain. It feels very, very good after a drought. Just as long as there’s not too much.
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Long time before we have “too much” rain! If anyone has the time, a review for “Of Words and Water” would be wonderful. We’re trying to promote so the anthology can bring in more donations. THANKS
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