Daily showers--our north american right?

Last week on the mount was an interesting experience. Going without the normal northamerican amount of water allowance for showers led one to reflect on the state of water in the world. My african colleagues seemed unflummoxed by our lack of shower water due to the water crisis. The north americans were panicked. No showers for 6 days, finally rainwater to wash ones hair by the weekend. How much we north americans do take our daily showers for granted? Do we actually need to take daily showers? Most of the world's population is not privy to such extravagance. Overall the experience was valuable and alerted one to the unthinking presumption we North Americans can have about our right to a continuous abundance of water for our personal use. Yes, everyone needs clean water to drink. This is a basic human need, and yet, not all of humanity even has this basic need met. In North America, we cannot forget, we live a life of priviledge and often unthinking ingratitude. Daily showers are a priviledge not a right. Yes, today, I finally had the priviledge of a hot shower and was never so thankful in my life.

The lonely racoon!

Empty beaches

It sometimes amazes me, I live in a world of billions of people, and yet, I can walk the east beaches at Canada's southern tip and they are empty. It was still warm enough to wade in the slightly chilly water. The sun had not yet dropped too far. Miles of golden sand, waves lapping the shore, and the only sign of life, one enormous raccoon ambled out of the woods to drink at the lake edge.