Sunday, November 29, 2009

Still Thankful

"For the first time in the city's history, the Portland Water Bureau issued an emergency boil-water alert late Saturday afternoon to more than 50,000 customers west of the Willamette River because of an E. coli contamination."

Above is a quote from the front page of this mornings Oregonian. Amber called me from the store late yesterday afternoon and asked if I'd heard anything about having to boil our water. She overheard some people talking about it at the store as some were loading up bottled water. For about an hour or so we weren't sure if we should be cautious with our water. It turns out that we're not in the affected area.

It got me thinking about the people who will have to alter how they do some things that are ordinarily taken for granted. We drink bottled water because our plumbing has old galvanized pipes, but we're use to having water on demand for all the other household needs. To think that tap water could no longer be trusted or even available is a serious proposition that would alter how we live.

My thoughts then turn to how grateful I am to have convenient necessities which I normally don't think about. It's a reminder that everyday is a day for giving thanks.

An announcement was made about 5:00 tonight that the boil-water alert had been lifted. Further testing showed no more signs of contamination. Taps should be run for about two minutes before drinking water again.


This was the view this morning a little after 7:00 outside one of our back windows. It's a black & white image and it's looking south. It shows the vivid contrast of the various kinds of trees against the new morning sky. It's as though each one is looking with anticipation of the new day and what it will bring. They're totally reliant on the sun and oxygen and water.

"This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." (Psalm 118:24)

7 comments:

  1. Almost everytime I step out of a hot shower I think about a similar gratitude. We are richer than we realize and should live accordingly.

    By the way, you promised to introduce me to Kelly's Olympian. Sort of, anyway! I'll send you an e-mail and let's see if we can work it out?

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  2. Dan,
    I like your point in both paragraphs. I was going to call or email you today about where I'll be this week; hoping one day will be where you are.

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  3. Mike:

    It's just amazing how dependant we are on electricity and water. A couple of years ago we had a power failure. Of course nothing works. No furnace but luckily we still had hot water (Gas) and we did install a gas insert in the fireplace, so we had 1 room with heat. I can't imagine walking 5 miles or more down to the river with no shoes on a muddy road and balance that pail on your head to get it back to your cardboard shack.
    Kelly's Olympian sounds great, but it's 5 hours each way plus 2 hours to get through the border. Couldn't you find a place farther away ?

    bob
    bobskoot: wet coast scootin

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  4. Mike:

    PS: how about dinner someplace near Pike Place, Seattle, on December 12th ?

    We are not yet 100% confirmed yet but Bradly, Trobairitz, Lance and perhaps Irondad are all going to the Seattle Motorcycle show that weekend

    bob
    bobskoot: wet coast scootin

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  5. Bob,
    Thanks for the invite on Dec. 12th. Let me give it some thought. I saw on Bradly's blog where it's being planned. If I went it would just be Saturday so dinner might be too late for me.

    Wow, 2 hours to get through the border?

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  6. Mike:

    I think news1130.com is available on streaming internet radio. They issue traffice reports every 10 minutes on the ONEs (ie: :01, :11, :21, :31, :41, :51) this is for weather, traffic and border line-up info. I have been listening on Saturday mornings and by 9am the line up is around 2 hours long for Canadians to do Christmas shopping in Bellingham.

    here is another link for highway and border cams

    http://drivebc.com/links.jsp#cams

    check out the border cams, or ferry line up cams

    The only reason I am undecided about going to Seattle is the border lineup. Driving I-5 is not the problem.

    bob
    bobskoot: wet coast scootin

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  7. Bob,

    1130.com is a nice source for weather and traffic. Wish we had something like that here. I forgot about the Christmas shoppers - that would make sense for Saturday backups at the border.

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