Rethinking and Appreciating

I turn on the news to hear how sweltering hot it is right now here along the East Coast. (Thanks to the news, I am in the know!) This is followed by stories of traffic jams caused by the multitude of people seeking relief from beaches, fountains and lakes. We are told over and over to, "Drink plenty of water!" All of this brought to mind that I for one, need to be much more conscious of how I use water and how fortunate I am to have it so easily available.
Night after night, images appear of oil transforming entire areas of our southern coast into barren, black covered beaches, obliterating wild life and the basic livelihood of so many. Religions use water for sacramental transitions - baptisms, funerals, etc. Maybe we should return to this sense of approaching water as the sacred, life giving and sustaining gift that it is. While I was in India, I saw how precious water was for people. A woman only had a paint can of water to wash her son. Bowls were lined up to catch the rain and old men would walk distances just to get to a pump while others would use water to soothe wounds.
So, as I go through this heat spell (and hopefully, long after) it is my goal to slow down and be much more thoughtful and not take for granted something so precious.