Wonderful Water

It covers  70.9% of the Earth’s surface, and is vital for all known forms of life
It is a colorless, transparent, odorless, tasteless liquid that forms the seas, lakes, rivers, and rain.
It is a basic molecule made up of two hydrogen atoms, and one oxygen atom.
It is a liquid, but can also be a solid or an invisible gas.
What is it?   Water of course!  

Water is one of God’s  wonderful works. It is our most precious natural resource.

Here in Portland we see more than our share of liquid water and sometimes even solid water in the form of snow appears.  We visit our beaches and enjoy the beautiful Pacific Ocean’s water.  We are fortunate to have the Williamette River right downtown and the Columbia River close by.  Our parks have pools, ponds, sprinklers, and fountains.  We have water parks, lakes and indoor skating rinks.  We enjoy our running water indoors from our faucets.  They supply us with drinking water, water for showers and baths, washing and toilets.
There is an abundance of wonderful water all around us daily, so much so that we might tend to take it for granted. Sometimes we might even complain about all the rain, snow or ice.

Yet, approximately one billion people in the world still lack access to safe water for drinking and over 2.5 billion don’t have access to adequate sanitation. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water)

Today, March 22nd,  is World Water Day 2012.  Let’s Celebrate by learning more about what we can do to help bring some wonderful water to those one billion people who have none.
According to the water.org website there are three things most of the world can’t do.  
Those three things are:  Take a Hot Shower—Get Clean Water from the Tap—Flush Away Yesterday’s Dinner.

Perhaps today, on World Water Day 2012, we can make a difference in someone’s life by doing something about that.  Visiting www.water.org would be one way to start.

Also, this Saturday, March 24th, Portland is celebrating World Water Day by hosting a 2012 Walk for Water & Fun Run.  This will be the fourth year where participants check in at OMSI and collect their water-gathering containers to haul water on the 3.1 mile walk around the Williamette River. This is meant to be a model of the water gathering that some women and children must do in some parts of Africa just to get water for their daily use.
For more information or to Register to Walk visit this link:  Walk for Water–-http://www.worldwaterdaypdx.com/

“Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head”

“Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head”

If you live in Oregon the song, “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” written by Hal David and Burt Bacharach and sung by B.J. Thomas in 1969, might be an appropriate song to sing.

It rains so much in Oregon that sometimes we have a hard time giving thanks for it.
But I would agree with this unknown author, that, “Anyone who says sunshine brings happiness has never danced in the rain”  for after many days of drought in the Midwest one year, I actually found myself running out to dance in the rain when it finally came my way!
Rain is truly a blessing and is one of God’s most wondrous works.

Consider a raindrop…it can vary in size from 0.1 millimetres (0.0039 in) to 9 millimetres (0.35 in) that is pretty small!  Popular belief is that a raindrop is shaped like a teardrop,however, that is not true.  Raindrops are actually spherical and as they increase in size they become oblate. The largest ones often resemble a parachute in shape.
“Why are raindrops are different sizes?” It all has to do with clouds,condensation and particles.
USGS website explains it well.  http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/raindropsizes.html

As we see, even tiny raindrops are amazingly complex and truly wondrous creations.  Let’s remember this the next time we venture out into our rainy Oregon weather.  Let’s look up, give thanks and perhaps,become like a kid again by trying to catch one of those tiny droplets on our tongue !

This unknown author said it well:
“Sometimes I see myself as a child in a rain storm, running around trying to catch all the drops in his mouth.
I long for your adventures to be like the raindrops the child saves and not those which crash to the ground.”

For more information check out these links:

“Raindrops Keep Fallin on My Head” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raindrops_Keep_Fallin%27_on_My_Head

Rain   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rain

Raindrops   http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/raindropsizes.html
                   http://www.dimensionsguide.com/dimension-of-a-raindrop/