You’re all wet!

“You’re all wet!”

That is a recently extinct expression meaning you don’t know what you are talking about.

But in terms of body chemistry it reflects reality: humans are between fifty and seventy-five percent water. (*)

We can’t live without it.

Extra-terrestrially speaking, our need for water even dominates the current discussion about sending humans to Mars. [To join the red planet’s indigenous population?] Finding liquid water is the key to discovering life there.

The same goes for all our insect, animal and plant life on planet Earth.

WE all need water.

Country living and an observant eye reinforces that reality daily, and especially when we have drought conditions as we do.

Yesterday I was outside siphoning a gallon of water from the orange pail that catches it from the AC window unit above; I use the precious liquid on potted plants.

I observed a solitary wasp calmly buzz the rim of the bucket that was about one-inch from being full.

I stepped back for a moment to respect its stinging prowess.

He landed on that edge and got the courage to stretch down towards the surface of the water without falling in.

Skillfully he got his drink and flew away.

Today there was a similar performance, but the pail was already overflowing drip by drip, so there was no need to descend and risk life and wing.

Wasp instead safely slaked his thirst from a pail-side blade of grass.

[I wonder if watering is part of the same wasp’s daily routine.]

Some of Nature’s other characters come around after the occasional gully washer: turtles, frogs and birds, the latter to splash wings communally in late afternoon in the clear, cool just-fallen rain. Anthropomorphically, it looks like they are really having fun.

When I first started hanging out in Texas country in 2006 a local gentleman – whose business is water wells – made a prediction that in the ensuing year’s water would become a major issue in community development.

Looking around today, Alan was right.

And if you live in a growing city like Austin, it is a reality: residents have enforced restrictions on water usage.

So whether you are a country or a city dweller, remember that everyone – and living thing – needs water.

[*]http://chemistry.about.com/od/waterchemistry/f/How-Much-Of-Your-Body-Is-Water.htm