Vanity Washing

     Okay, one more for today. As I mentioned, I have not posted in awhile but I have been pondering things. When we lived in Arizona, it was not unusual for people to wash their driveways or patios with a hose. It was simply so dusty there with so little rain, that the only effective way to clear dust and debris was with water. However, since it is a desert, it seemed a bit of a wasteful use of a precious resource- fresh water. There are warnings everywhere about water shortages. We watched a documentary about the use of satellite imaging to measure the depletion of ground water and it was sobering to say the least. Sink holes have suddenly appeared in several places in Florida as there is no longer anything to hold up the upper level of ground. So, as I pondered this, I have decided we tend to do what could be called "vanity washing". Because we don't want to be seen in the same outfit more than one day in a row, we throw it in the wash, even though it isn't really dirty. Because we woke up with scary hair, we take a shower so we can re-do our do. We like our vehicles, for which we spent so much money, to sparkle so we wash the dust off them and make sure we include a wax job. We grab a clean cup every time we get a drink even though we aren't sick and it's only our own germs. We could just re-use the cup, especially if we are only drinking water. We don't like dishpan hands so we let food on plates harden and remnants of liquid in glasses set so they have to be scrubbed clean or run through the dishwasher more than once. Rather than wash a large bowl independently, we fill up the dishwasher with it which means using more and hotter water for fewer dishes. If we're really serious about the concern for wasting a precious resource, we need to give up vanity.