Clean, running water.

Daily writing prompt

What’s the one luxury you can’t live without?

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I take it for granted too often that I can just walk into my kitchen (or one of the two bathrooms that are mere feet away) and drink water straight from the tap. But I would be well served to consider this the miracle that it is every time I get a drink, wash my hands, use the toilet or take a shower or bath. Oh, and wash my clothes (sheets/ towels/ etc…) in the machine that I have literally right downstairs in my basement. Just this past weekend, I gave my dog a bath (shower, really, as my daughter pointed out while she was cleaning him with me) using one of the two hoses connected to our house. How is this possible? If I lost this access to potable water in my own home, I would not survive.

When I was much younger, I did live for a brief period of time without indoor plumbing. The water had to be boiled (or bought) in order to drink it. And I suppose that all of that just becomes a part of the routine of daily life: taking bucket baths, carrying water from the well or tank (or asking someone to do it for me which is more likely what I did), remembering to stock up on potable water or to boil it. But all of that is, well, it’s a lot. And I was younger then and more adaptable. I’m probably softer now. Yeah. Definitely softer.

And so: I’m left with trying to not take what I have for granted.