Trina Machacek: Letting the worms out

In your day-to-day living, there are probably things you decide not to take on, jibber-jabber about or loudly trumpet your opinion on. You decide not to let the worms out of the can they comfortably live in. Well, well now. Where’s the fun in that? Stand back, the worms are about to come out of a can in a big ole rush of water.

I love a lively discussion that has two sides and both sides have talkers who believe in their side of the issue. Important, too, is that all the ears and mouths taking part in the issue know that a discussion doesn’t need to be won. It’s just a discussion. A fight is fought to be won or lost. But! Yes, a two-sided “but.” But a discussion is a banter, not a fight. I love a good banter and this particular issue, I feel, will forever be bantered across tables for longer than any rowdy fight for a prize.

Here’s a five-letter word that can bring even the biggest person or company to their knees — water. Yes, water. Water is actually the most valuable thing I can think of. More than gold or diamonds or, yes, be still my heart, more than chocolate anything! Water truly is life’s blood. Without it, everything would cease to exist. Well, everything except rocks. Rocks will always be rocks. However, magically, no matter how you get there, big rocks are made into little rocks by the work of water. Give it some thought and you’ll agree. Or we could discuss it.

So, let’s open this can… Will we someday use up all the water on earth, causing you, me and Fred down the street to dry up and turn to dust? Here are the sides. One side says that there are more and more people and if we as a human race don’t be careful, we will use up all the water. The other side says that there’s just as much water on the earth now as there has been since the beginning of time so there is no reason to worry about running out of water. I stand on the second side, and I am not a bit afraid of proclaiming it.

Here’s my side. Yes, we use water in a thousand ways. But! But we don’t use it up. It continues to be here on Mother Earth. No matter how I look at it, how water is used, it is still here. We drink it and eventually it, well, in polite wording, it eventually goes back to the earth, is cleaned by the earth and eventually we use it again and again. Even though we “go” when we are full of water, it doesn’t “go away.” Ha, ha.

I can see my side clear as a pool of cool spring water. What I can’t see is the other side. I mean, I see what the premise is. But I can’t get past the fact that some believe that water has gone away. To where? Is there a huge ole blob of water in outer space? How did it get there? Did it evaporate? If so, I learned in earth science that evaporation creates rain. And as rain, the water comes back to us, cleaned and full of nitrogen, which grows stuff really well. Which kinda makes my point. Is the water hiding under ground? Well, if that is so, we drill a well and pump it up to drink it and play in the geyser it may produce. Which also kinda makes my point. The water is still here whether it goes up or down. Oh, it might be getting moved around the earth and used by different people, but it is still here. Wet, refreshing, truly life’s blood.

I imagine that there are many more free-flowing words to banter around about this can of worms. If you get tired of swimming against the stream on the subject of water here’s two squiggly worms. Does it really storm within five days after spotting a sun dog? Does that hold true if you see a Moon Doggie? Ha, ha. Why doesn’t everyone look good in a hat? Some people have great hat heads and faces. Some just look funny in a hat. Never, however, have I seen a bad-looking cowboy wearing a cowboy hat! OK, grab your worms and head for the nearest fishing hole. Just sit there, thinkin’ about water.

Trina lives in Eureka, Nev. Like her on Facebook, Instagram or email itybytrina@yahoo.com. Really!