water, water everywhere

So the world is 3/4 water. We need water to live; we drink it, clean with it, bathe in it. In fact, dirty water is the number one means of spreading disease in impoverished nations. Beyond the survival aspect of water, we love to swim in it, at least people who can swim or wear floaties usually love to swim. People flock to pools, lakes, and beaches to vacation. Still, our relationship with water is based predominantly on convenience; it is certainly not unconditional. We don't mind being soaking wet when it is on our terms, like if we have a bathing suit on and want to go swimming. However, if it is raining and we don't have an umbrella, then we don't really feel the desire to get wet. Kinda selfish. I mean it's a similar scenario, but we only like water when we want it. During a drought, we love it. During a flood, not so much. It is our life force, but it only takes one rainy day on a long awaited vacation to be on bad terms with water. The first picture above is from a past family vacation to Ft. Walton beach, where my family went religiously for about five summers. This was taken before a big storm one late afternoon, and as much as I love the feeling of sand right after it rains, I was pissed taking this picture from our hotel balcony. The second picture is from a vacation to Aruba I took last summer, which was-if you can believe it-my first time traveling outside of the country (not bad for a first trip right?!?) Anyway, this is just one of the postcard perfect beaches I got to romp around on; in this instance water was my source of tranquility and joy, at least for one week out of my year.