I have a kink in my neck. Actually, I should not say that since I don’t know what exactly a kink is, people just always say that when their neck hurts and I woke up this morning with my neck hurting. A kink in the olde neck.
I am embarrassed to say how I originally got this kink, but I am blogging so I guess I will let it fly. What did we do before blogs? We kept stuff to ourselves. Perhaps you will conclude after reading that this was not such a bad thing. Anyway, I wish it was due to something cool like snowboarding or even slipping on the ice, but two years ago I was combing my hair and flipped my head over to give my hair some volume, like the Pantene commercials, and when I flipped back up I totally yanked the muscles in my neck. So every now and then I wake up and it hurts. Today was one of those days.
So when I was standing in the shower this morning I ended up lingering longer than I normally do because that steaming hot water on the neck just felt so darn good. Since I’ve started greening up my life I take shorter showers. I cannot stomach wasting water. Moms in general take short showers so you can probably relate. Especially when the kids are awake, who can enjoy anything when they are running around as you shower. They know you cannot see them and can hardly hear them with the water running and soap in your hair. You leave the bathroom door open and yell random things to make sure they know you are still in charge, “hey, be good,” or “I can hear you,” but really, who are you kidding? You cannot stop what you cannot see and honestly, the water feels good and you need to be clean so you will not stop things anyway.?
So today I was in the shower with my Pantene neck and it just felt so good to stand there in the hot water. I wanted to stand there all day, my own sort of spa trip. And I watched all that water swirling the drain. And I started thinking about how I should be collecting gray water and how there is a drought in California and how Lake Powell is slowly draining. And I thought about all the golf courses in the desert where there should not be golf courses because it is a desert. And I just watched the water go and go and go. It was warm and my neck hurt. And then I could not take it any longer so I shut off the water. I wrapped myself in a towel and darted out of the bathroom, I needed to make sure all three kids were still alive. I dripped water all over the floor and peeked into my son’s room where all three were playing with trains. perfect.
Back to the bathroom. I carefully flipped my head over to do my poofy hair trick (I have horribly thin stringy hair in case you are wondering why this matters so much to me). And I kept thinking. Did you know that the Colorado River no longer makes it to the Pacific Ocean? Really, it does not.
Now I love to ski so I have spent many a winter sliding around on top of the snow that eventually becomes the Colorado River. There is a lot of it, like mountains full of it. And it eventually melts and rushes down into creeks and rivers and sends tourists rafting and kayakers careening down canyons and chutes. And it makes its way through the desert and dumps into lakes and then spins out and keeps on going through the desert. And along the way, farmers pull water for crops that should not be grown in the desert and resorts pull water for golf courses and swimming pools that do not belong in the desert, and people take long showers in houses that do not belong in the desert and then somewhere along the Mexican Border before it hits the ocean, this once raging river just peters out. done. It used to actually have enough water to connect with the Pacific. not so much anymore. It is as if it has an unmanageable kink in its neck.?
Now if you live in the desert, please don’t hate me. I like the desert actually. It’s not just you. It is all of us who leave the water on while we brush our teeth, all of us who refuse to fix that leaky sink, who fill the dishwasher only half-full when we wash dishes, who leave the sink water running to rinse dishes that will go into a dish washer that will rinse them again. It’s all of us who have planted non-native species in our yards that demand more water than our climate offers. It’s all of us, all over the country, sucking life from our rivers, draining underground aquifers, pulling from reservoirs, and hoping that God sends a little rain to the desert. So, even with a funky neck I get out of the shower quick.
Our home is not known for a mama who takes a long shower. The dishwasher is so full it barely closes. And my kids do not even know that you can leave the water on while you brush your teeth. They’ve never seen it done so for them it is not an option. This is the brilliance of green parenting. Teach them green habits and they will follow.?
For water saving tips and tricks for your home visit?http://www.wateruseitwisely.com/ and go easy on your neck (and your hair).
{extended}