The H20 conundrum involves too much or too little.  Here in Florida we have passed a hurricane season with very little damage but we are suffering from a lack of water to drink and with which to wash.  In the far northwest they have a surfeit of water – too much for the land to absorb and too much for the rivers to handle.  So, their excess water brought by rain, does not get absorbed by the land and floods homes, covers cars and highways and kills older and unlucky people.

I will get back to the “absorbed by the land” in a little while.  But, first I would like to comment on the fact that people like to live near the water.  Most of the sea coasts, river sides and lakes are crowded with people wishing to be near water.  This may be a throwback to our pre-historic ancestry where we were cousins to the dolphins and perhaps some other sea creatures that needed water to live in although they required oxygen to breathe.  People like to play in water, indulge in water sports and get wet wearing “bathing suits” or practically nothing at all.  It is great fun and if there is a tide and waves, opportunities to splash around and be pushed around by water is harmless enjoyment.  But, too much or too little water periodically becomes a problem.

Right now here in Florida, Lake Okeechobee is drying up for lack of the seasonal rains and occasional hurricanes that fill it and supply necessary water to those hordes who have packed themselves in South Florida.  Central Florida is generally agricultural and too hot for the retirees and “Snowbirds”.  Please notice that the population pressures here are partly responsible for draining Lake Okeechobee.  Bad planning and pouring concrete over much of the populated land has prevented the absorption of the heavy rains when they do come on schedule.  So the coasts are dry where the people live and our hope is that the oranges and grapefruits will continue to be the envy of northern and middle of the country folks.

The puzzle (conundrum) about water is that there is too little some times and too much at others.  The “just enough” principle doesn’t seem to work.  We called Rebecca in Oregon to see if they were alright with the huge storm that brought so much misery to many and she said that they were lucky – all the extended family who live there.  It is at times like these, tsunamis in other places (they could happen here) and just plain stormy weather that make us thin and dry-skinned animals pay attention to the weather fore-casters to tell us when to get in out of the rain.  Other-wise, we are enjoying an extended period of “good” weather but could use some (not a lot) of rain to make everything green again.  The H20 conundrum continues and it bothers us when there is either too much or not enough.