Nor Any Drop To Drink

originally published October 10, 2007

Once when my wife and daughter were thankfully out of town for the weekend, I arrived home one Friday afternoon to find that our water had been cut off. The reason was simple: I had put off paying the bill past the second warning, which I don’t think I had even opened. So I faced the prospect of getting through the weekend without any running water. Hmmm.

I went back down to Flagpole and got an empty five-gallon bottle from The Waterman’s (“plug”) water cooler. Unfortunately, it was too big to fit under the faucet in the bathroom. I took the hose off the vacuum cleaner and ran the water through it into the bottle. A lot of black stuff came through with it, but I had five gallons of water. I don’t remember why I didn’t just take home a fresh, new five-gallon bottle. Frugality, perhaps, or maybe The Waterman had let us run out (“un-plug”). I probably bought a couple of bottles of water for drinking and brushing my teeth.

I made it fine through the rest of the weekend. Of course I didn’t do any outdoor watering, and lifting the big bottle above my head in the shower was difficult when full, but five gallons was plenty of water for bathing and for flushing the toilet all weekend.

I use way more than that every morning when I take a shower, or I did before learning to turn off the shower while I get soaped up. We’ve all got a lot more to learn about using water. We’re getting a wake-up call like none of us has ever experienced. We’ll have to open our eyes to the fact that water is a scarce and precious resource and the bad old days of unlimited use are behind us. Our local government, which had the foresight to build Bear Creek reservoir with neighbor counties (thanks, Gwen), will have to guide and goad us into changing our water-use habits. Higher rates for big users will of course have to go into effect, and they’ve got to be high enough to force me to turn off the water while I soap up and maybe also force me to save that shower water for the roses. Meanwhile, we’re probably headed for water rationing, because it’s going to get worse before it gets better.

Maybe somebody better call the Department of Homeland Security and say, uh, you know, we’re out of water down here, and it has kind of made us rethink some things, and, well, why don’t y’all look elsewhere for that water-dependent agro-bio-terro laboratory.

Hardy Plants

I’m not a gardener, just a yard man, but I’ve got three abelia bushes that were in front of our old house when we moved here and had probably been here a long time. I dug them up to make way for work on the front porch and kind of hilled them out behind the house, barely covering their roots with soil. I watered them in, but since then haven’t given them much. They’re still out there with blossoms and bees, and every time I pass them they remind me just what they could do with a little more dirt and moisture.

Nature may be whispering to us through this drought to forget about grass and all the show-off plants that need coddling and get back to the stuff accustomed to our climate. Even some non-native plants have proven their ability to thrive here and may be worth another look.

Have you considered kudzu? No water, no fertilizer, no expensive lawn mowers. Maybe an edger or a goat to keep it within bounds. More leisure for you and a lush, green lawn that rewards you with beautiful purple flowers every bit as lovely as those hybrid azaleas and not nearly as finicky.

Scary Story

Since water is the scariest story around, Music Editor Chris Hassiotis suggested that we make it the theme of this year’s Flagpole Halloween Scary Story Contest, and that’s what we’ve done. Now’s your chance to float your fears with a 1000-word scary story about water. You can even do a scary comics if your talent flows that way. (See the graphic specs here) Send in your tale dripping with horror by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 24, preferably by email to editor@flagpole.com or to Flagpole Scary Story Contest, 112 S. Foundry St., Athens, GA 30606. Don’t try floating it down the North Oconee to us: the water’s too low. First Place winner gets $100 cash. Second Place: $50. Third Place: $25. The first, second and third place stories will be published in the Oct. 31 Flagpole. Come on, pour out your feelings.

Pete McCommons

editor@flagpole.com