Several events over the past couple of weeks have led me to think about water. I had fun making a list of water and water-related things I have personally encountered.
Diapers (cloth, paper, diaper-service), towels, washcloths, paper towels.
Toilet bowls, toilet tanks, flush valves, flapper valves, wax rings, sanitary pipe (PVC, cast iron, oakum, molten lead, and a plumber who sang gospel hymns while he worked), septic tanks, field lines, urinals, outhouses, outdoor urinals (Peachtree Road Race), portable toilets.
Streams, rills, rivulets, creeks, rivers, lakes, beaver dams, the Hiawassee hydroelectric dam (including turbines and tools so big they require their own overhead crane), both American oceans, and the Gulf.
Water skimmers (also called ‘Jesus bugs’), water moccasins, beavers, bass, bream, catfish, rods, reels, nets, stringers, bait, and fish-frys.
Boats (sail and ski), rudders, inboard motors, outboard motors, propellers, canoes, kayaks, wave runners, oars, personal flotation devices, swim suits, flippers, swim goggles, ear plugs, swimming pools, pool filters and vacuums, pool skimmers, and chlorine.
Clouds, rain, thunderstorms, snow, sleet, hail, ice, frozen lakes, ice skates (but not on a frozen lake in Georgia – are you kidding?) raincoats, hats, umbrellas, waterproof boots, tarpaulins, plastic sheeting, shingles, tar paper, fiberglass roof panels, tin roofs, roofing tar, flashing, and chimney covers.
Gutters, downspouts, French drains, ditches, culverts, storm sewers and pipes.
Water treatment plants, iron pipe and pipe threaders, copper pipe (soldered and compression), PVC pipe and purple primer, faucets, valves, faucet washers and stem packing, stoppers, shower heads (plain and fancy), pipe joint compound and teflon tape, pipe wrenches tiny to large, and rinsing dishes with a sink sprayer.
Dishwashers, washing machines, dryers, water heaters, refrigerators with ice makers and cold water dispensers, water coolers in the office, and not breaking my teeth on the porcelain-and-steel water fountains of my youth.
Fountains (after all, I grew up in The Fountain City), koi ponds, water falls, especially Amicalola and Niagara, Old Faithful, and the sulfurous ponds of Yellowstone.
Steam engines, steam turbines, tea kettles, tea bags with their tiny little staples, tea cups, mugs, coffee makers (including percolators large and small, Mr. Coffee, espresso machines, and an original Chemex manual drip maker), glasses (crystal, glass, plastic, tin and paper cups, especially the small ones that hung from a gimbal-mounted dispenser glued to the bathroom wall in the 80s; or was it the 70s?), buckets, washtubs, foot tubs, dishpans, and sinks.
Canteens.
Pumps, including manual well pumps with leather seals, centrifugal pumps (well and pool filter), automobile water pumps,. condensate pumps (one a replacement for the air conditioner, and one I installed at a coffeehouse to pump drips from the espresso machine to the sink on the other wall) and one small hydraulic ram pump.
Garden hoses, radiator hoses, panty hoses (I just threw that in to see if anybody actually read this far), nozzles, spouts and spickets, which I am told is actually spelled spigots, but that’s not how we pronounced it.
Dew, mist, fog, and the steam rising off lakes and rivers as the sun comes up.
Bottled water.
Sweat. Drool. Tears.
If I keep going in the biological direction I will get back to diapers, and potentially in an infinite loop (lather, rinse, repeat).
Or I just might be all wet.