Saving.

Saving energy, saving water, saving money. It seems that everything these days costs all three; there's no real solution that would make everybody happy. We don't live in a magical fairy world where everything comes free and easy, despite how it may appear. Flip a switch and you've got light. Turn on the tap and there's unlimited water. If the water doesn't appear, or if it's other than crystal clear, odorless, flavorless, and plentiful- call your congressman and utility company and raise holy hell that your rights as an American have been screwed.

Truth is, it's not actually a right. The utility company supplies water, for a fee, and the water comes from somewhere. It does not magically appear in the faucet. Every municipality has their own supply, the plants are all different in how the water is treated. Sometimes quality depends on quantity, sometimes on the geography of the surrounding country, and sometimes the water just plain comes from an undesirable source although it's drinkable.

Case in point. The town I grew up in, Telford, had "good" water. It came clear and tasteless. Or maybe it's just that I was raised to believe that's how water tastes. Whenever we had to go into the city, or to an area where the water came from a city source, it tasted metallic. Still drinkable, but it tasted absolutely foul. I've moved several times since then. Water tastes different no matter where you go. Now we've moved into a rural area where the water smells of sulfer. It comes out of the tap with a slight sediment- when it's hot it's all cloudy for a few minutes, then it settles and turns clear again. The sulfer smell is significant. I don't spend as long in the shower as I used to, because of this. But... it's clean. It's not going to hurt anyone, it just smells bad, tastes funky, and not even the brita filter we use can remove the taste. We've taken to flavoring big pitchers of water with lemonade mix, or some drink mix. The Boy has brought up the idea of just buying all our drinking water in big gallons. I'd rather just flavor it all.

Energy bills are going to be higher than they were. I had gotten used to living in a place where we didn't have heat or central air- because it was unnecessary except for a few days in the winter or summer. Consequently, our electric/gas bill was about 30 bucks a month. Now we're back in the temperate zone where we can expect the hundred or so we used to pay back east. Plus, we've got a house now, which will run to more; and a toddler... it all adds up.

How to economize? How to lower the bills and save water which will be in short supply every summer? I don't know. I suspect that the answers lay in my childhood, in the lessons my mother taught me that she learned from experience and from her own mother. Waste not, want not. Use it up, wear it out, or do without. Shun the disposable economy that lives on credit and sells easy living. Yes, it may be easier, but you'll feel better and appreciate it more if you work harder for it.