Today, our apartment has no water for eight hours. The irony? Outside, it’s raining all day long. But there’s a difference between water coming out of the sky or the ground and fresh H2O pouring out of your tap, and you only realize how big of a difference it is when you’re left without your usual conveniences.
Could I catch some of the rainwater? Sure. But then I’d have to filter it to drink it, heat it up in the boiler or the microwave if I want it warm, and pour some into a bowl whenever I want to wash my hands. Could I even collect enough for a bath? Who knows. But on days like today, you realize how un-basic the basics actually are. Pipes, heating, filtering, countless mechanisms work invisibly day and night so we can wash hands whenever, make coffee whenever, shower hot or cold whenever.
It’s a good tradition, this reset. I hope they’ll repair or maintain the water system at least once a year. That way, every time I scoop another cup from my prefilled bathtub, then filter it for next steps, I’ll remember: Appreciate the basics—because without them, whatever we hope to build on top of their foundation would collapse like a house of cards.
