When I was young, I used to stare straight into my glass (or fish tank, or bath water) and marvel at the fact that I was looking at something that was almost invisible. I could see it, feel it, taste it. I was amazed - like I was in the presence of something that, at any moment, could instantly and completely conceal itself from me forever.
I loved water so much that sometimes I would just stand at the water fountain and let it run over my lips. I didn't want to drink it. I just wanted to feel it. I took long showers on purpose. I drank from the hose in the back yard. I got up in the middle of the night to drink water from the bathroom sink because a still glass of room-temperature water just wasn't exciting enough for me. I jumped in fountains. I stood outside when it rained. When condensation formed on the side of a glass, I crouched down and stared at it - in awe of the fact that my near-invisible object of fascination could do things - like run down the side of a glass without any help.
I thought I'd grown out of my fascination with water - you know, after learning about chemical compounds and evaporation and all that stuff. But, today, as I bent down to get a drink of water from a water fountain...I let myself linger just long enough that I was no longer drinking and was just letting the water run over my lips.
As I was walking away, I started thinking about all the poems and songs I knew about water - and how lucky I am to have clean water, and how I hate drinking water but love the sound it makes when it sloshes around in my water bottle, and the way the rain sounds when it hits my window...and the little streaks it leaves. And how the high-pressure mode in the car wash makes me really happy because I like the way the water sounds when it hits my almost invisible windows.
Maybe I never really grew out of my strange fascination for the liquid I love to stare at but hate to drink. Maybe the relationship just got complex enough that I forgot how much I loved the simple things.
1 comment:
I understand completely. It's that same fascination with water that had me paddling out on completely flat days, just to be IN the water, to hold my hand to it, to feel its ebb and flow. :)
Post a Comment