The Summer Solstice

For the next few posts, I’ll be devoting time to discussing water in a multi-part series we’ll call “The Volumes on Vitality”.

In the Northern Hemisphere, where I’m writing this from, the first day of summer starts tomorrow!

When I was really young, my mother made a point to use my summer breaks from school in hotter-than-hell Arizona to take trips to Ethiopia as that’s where she’s originally from; she would always say it’s a trip to see extended family & to see how the rest of the world lives with my own eyes.

Even though it lies north of the equator, due to large mountain ranges & high elevation most of Ethiopia is subject to two rainy seasons: a short one that lasts from February to April, and a longer one that lasts from mid-June to mid-September. I essentially skipped the summer season over five times just by traveling to a place where the four season schematic is not descriptive of the climate-I jokingly call this a life hack from time to time.

On the other hand, my father’s side of the family is from a tiny town called Wardell, Missouri of about 390 people per the last U.S. census where “natural gas [came]…in 1966 or 1967 and a sewage system was installed in 1976. Although public water had been available since 1962, each individual had to install his own cesspool or septic tank,” as Eva Welch wrote in “History of Wardell”. (The Mr. & Mrs. W.O. James mentioned at the end of paragraph 6 are my great grandparents.)

When I review my ancestral roots, I always marvel at the similarities my two families displayed in regards to their experiences with water even though they were genuinely worlds apart, 7,858 miles to be exact.

On one side, I see Amharas walking with jugs of water on their backs for miles & on the other, I see Americans doing the same thing; the only real difference is the timeframe in which these events took place.

Large bodies of water are prevalent aspects of both parties & their stories of success, failure & demise. Wardell itself lies about 10-14 miles from the Mississippi River & Ethiopia itself is home to the Nile River; both are foundational in the formation of various cultures to date like the people of Egypt & the people of the Sioux nation in America & both have storied histories of both floods & droughts.

This summer, besides moving from one state to another with my fiancé & two cats, I plan on being a bit more aware of water & the things water accompany. This blog aside, I’ve been finding myself in a recurring position where I utilize water & begin thinking about these molecules strung together perfectly that create this world we inhabit, in all its variety. A repetitive motion of, “water my plant, think about water, realize I have other plants to water, repeat process” that admittedly hasn’t done much other than help me recall memories where I’m at a body of water with family & friends or I think about humanity in general.

I encourage whoever is reading, the next time you use water, think about the water for a bit. “Where has it been?” “Where will it go?” The next time you take a sip, think to yourself, “what else did it give further life to, before me?”

Thanks for reading.

P.S. leave a comment! Tell me of your goals, expectations, concerns for 2022; I hope to create an area where it can all be hashed out.

P.P.S. are there water restrictions where you live too?

Links to review: https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/san-diego-county-water-authority-proposes-5-2-increase-citing-inflation-and-energy-costs/2957211/

© 2022 Zakariyas James. First shared here at theruminationcompilation.wordpress.com.