Water, water everywhere.....
You know that old saying, right?
I'm not sure where it originated but I understand it from a new perspective now. And I have a finer appreciation of the readily available fresh water we have every day....and perhaps more incentive to help protect it.
I cruised to two new island paradises, St. Maarten and St. Thomas, during my latest voyage that can't say that. Who would have thought?
Rivers? Nope.
Even a tiny stream--somewhere, anywhere? Afraid not.
Lakes, springs....something?? No, and no again.
If I hadn't sailed hundreds of miles due east into the Atlantic last year to spend two days in Bermuda, it never would have occurred to me to ask such a question: Does this island have a fresh water supply? But because of what I learned there--they capture rain water for drinking and other necessary uses in specially designed roofs on all the buildings in Bermuda--I asked in both St. Maarten and St. Thomas recently as we toured these two islands paradises. The only difference this time is that both countries use desalinization plants to turn the salt water surrounding them into fresh water.
We took an island tour in St. Thomas and stood at 1100 feet at the top of its one "mountain," the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the Caribbean Sea on the other. Water as far as we could see in all directions.....and not a drop to drink.
Needless to say, neither restaurant we visited on these two jeweled isles offered us water at the table. And I certainly didn't ask for any, either.
We spend a lot of time haggling over how to protect our own water resources, and I'm sure there are a myriad of ways to do so and still protect not only the water supply but also just about everyone's interests along the way. I see this constant bickering from a different perspective now, one of being grateful first for the great river that wends its way through my own city here in NE Florida. My next thought is to be a bit more proactive in speaking up for its protection. It's hard to envision living without this natural resource at all, like thousands of people all over the world do every day.
They would be overjoyed to even be part of the discussion.
You know that old saying, right?
I'm not sure where it originated but I understand it from a new perspective now. And I have a finer appreciation of the readily available fresh water we have every day....and perhaps more incentive to help protect it.
I cruised to two new island paradises, St. Maarten and St. Thomas, during my latest voyage that can't say that. Who would have thought?
Rivers? Nope.
Even a tiny stream--somewhere, anywhere? Afraid not.
Lakes, springs....something?? No, and no again.
If I hadn't sailed hundreds of miles due east into the Atlantic last year to spend two days in Bermuda, it never would have occurred to me to ask such a question: Does this island have a fresh water supply? But because of what I learned there--they capture rain water for drinking and other necessary uses in specially designed roofs on all the buildings in Bermuda--I asked in both St. Maarten and St. Thomas recently as we toured these two islands paradises. The only difference this time is that both countries use desalinization plants to turn the salt water surrounding them into fresh water.
We took an island tour in St. Thomas and stood at 1100 feet at the top of its one "mountain," the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the Caribbean Sea on the other. Water as far as we could see in all directions.....and not a drop to drink.
Needless to say, neither restaurant we visited on these two jeweled isles offered us water at the table. And I certainly didn't ask for any, either.
We spend a lot of time haggling over how to protect our own water resources, and I'm sure there are a myriad of ways to do so and still protect not only the water supply but also just about everyone's interests along the way. I see this constant bickering from a different perspective now, one of being grateful first for the great river that wends its way through my own city here in NE Florida. My next thought is to be a bit more proactive in speaking up for its protection. It's hard to envision living without this natural resource at all, like thousands of people all over the world do every day.
They would be overjoyed to even be part of the discussion.
Water is the driving force of all nature.
Victor Hugo
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