Water

Just tell me what’s on your mind today.

Today, I’m thinking of water.

When I was in college, I lived with some roommates off campus. My mom signed my household up for these monthly water deliveries. Every month, at 7am on the third, a big ol’ truck would pull up and drop six 15-gallon jugs at our doorsteps. My mom had read some something about how the water in parts of Palmyra was bad. Corroded pipes, and contaminated water, something about lead pipes. Plus, I didn’t drink tap anyway. I brewed my coffee, and I was pretty sure the heat killed any swamp bacteria that made its way into the pipes, or I filled my water bottle on campus. I dunno, I didn’t care.

I did care that my roommates would ridicule me for the absurd deliveries. While their parents might send cash, or socks, or some trinkets, my mom would send me water jugs. Not only did barely use them, but they took up so much space, which became a contention in our house. I was too scared to tell my mom I didn’t want the water deliveries, but it was always a constant inconvenience. By the time the worst of the heat had cooled, and we’d accepted the dwindling space in our small apartment, the next month’s shipment would arrive and start the arguments all over again.

My mom died later that year. And after she passed, I spent weeks going through her email, and phone, trying to figure out how to cancel that subscription. I tried, and gave up a dozen times. Almost a year later- when I was moving out of that house, and another delivery showed up mid-move, I finally figured out how to cancel it. I also packed up that final shipment of water jugs, and moved it into my new house. Equal parts spite, and guilt.

I buried the bottles in the basement of my new home. It was a bit bigger, and they were out of the way. And for the last year or so, I didn’t even think of them. But then, when the cordon came down, I was scrounging up supplies, taking inventory of every perishable, battery, and survival tool I could find. In my frenzy, I found those water jugs. Finally, after months of bitter fighting, I finally needed them.

Of course, they didn’t last long. You never realize just how much water you go through, until you have to watch your limited supply slowly dwindle away. It was such a luxury, I never thought I wouldn’t have reliable water sources.

Now, the simplest thing, like washing my hands, has become a painstaking chore. If I want to wash my hands, first I need to line up at a Kurdizov aid center, wait half a dozen hours, and then carry whatever rations, water, and medicine I can hold all the way back home. Assuming I do make it through the line while supplies last, and I don’t get accosted right after I leave, it’s a two hour walk back home.

In the Spring, it wasn’t too bad, but now that it’s summer, that walk becomes near unbearable. Sometimes I end up drinking half a week’s worth of water before I even make it home. Or, if I don’t want to do that, I can spend hours boiling the water, and treating it with purification tablets, but then it almost always has a foul odor, that just hangs in the muggy heat of my apartment. So after I boil or beg for water, I can come home and wash my hands.

But not so fast- the faucet doesn’t work, and if I just pour the water over my hands, I’m gonna waste way too much. So instead, I pour a little bit into a watering can, one of those cheap plastic ones with a big shower head, but I stuffed the head full of rags to slow the water down so it doesn’t come out too fast. But maybe I wanna wash both my hands at the same time, right? So I build a little contraption. Nothing fancy, just some string hanging around a hook. I attach the watering can to the string, and then prop up some books beneath one side, so it’s tilted over the sink. If you angle it just right so, it will slowly trickles out over your hands.

Great- That’s all done, but now I used the last of my soap. Soap’s not too hard to come by, but I will have to break into the neighbor‘s house if I don’t want to brave a trek to the grocery store, where I’m likely to run into soldiers, or some other survivors who might also shake me down.

But for today, let’s pretend we have ample soap. We told our can, we start lathering, and we wash our hands as quickly as we can so as to not waste any water. My stupid little string device works exactly as I needed, which is great- but today I used boiled water, which means no matter how much soap I use, my hands are going to smell like algae and dirt.

It’s not the worst smell, but after awhile, it gives me a headache. And it’s all over my hands, so I get little whiffs anytime I’m doing anything. Cooking food, playing guitar, reading, brushing my teeth, whatever.

And you know what really sucks? I’ve been talking awhile now, and my mouth is dry. I could sure go for some more water- but the next Kurdizov aid drop isn’t for two more days. Which means I’m guzzling down some bad boiled water!

I’ve tried everything man. I’ve put tea leaves in it, boiled it for extra time, put extra tablets in it, bottled it, strained it, and boiled it again a couple days later. Doesn’t matter, always has this funky taste to it. A little metalic, and tangy. Why’s my water tangy man? It just don’t make sense.