Deep Blue

Diving is one of those things I am really missing right now.  It's so calming and peaceful.  I took this photo at the Great Barrier Reef several years ago.  I was leading a group of high schoolers throughout Australia for the summer.  We helped the students become certified divers, but these four couldn't pass the dive test because they had asthma.  So they snorkeled instead (and obviously had some fun doing so).  I took this photo from about 15 meters below as I was photographing the dive students. 

I've always loved the ocean and felt connected to it, but diving definitely has deepened the bond.  It's an expensive and exclusive hobby, but one that has taught me an immense amount.  There's nothing like quietly observing a reef up close to help one understand the intricacies of aquatic ecosystems.

Deep breathing (or as some yoga instructors appropriately call it, ocean breathing) is the closest replication I have experienced of breathing through a regulator underwater.  There's something exciting about relying on measured air.  Every breath counts, and you want to make it as deep as possible. 

I don't know if it's because of the cozy liquid environment in my belly right now, because I got to swim in the Gulf recently (with dolphins!),  or because I know that I cannot dive at the moment, but I can't shake the need to go for a good dive. 

San Marcos is Going Gray

San Marcos passed a gray water ordinance today, allowing builders to install water reuse systems.  Gray water refers to water from sinks, washing machines, and showers that is safe for reuse in gardening, landscaping, and other outdoor uses (like foundation damage prevention).  Water from these household appliances is rerouted and redistributed in outdoor sprinkler systems rather than treated along with used toilet water.  I'm sure you can imagine the savings in water, energy, money, and infrastructure that result from gray water systems.

Other countries have used gray water systems extensively for years, but such systems have been slow to catch on in the US (probably from a misconception that the water is dirty).  Gray water does not include used toilet water, which is always sent to a treatment plant. 

I hope Austin follows San Marcos' footsteps in encouraging this great way to save aquifer water.  Incentives would be a great way to get developers and homeowners on board. 

Happy World Water Day

Photo and caption from Nationalgeographic.com:  In drought-ravaged Australia this Hallett Cove family not only shares showers, but carefully captures the runoff in buckets.  In this arid land, water is simply too precious to let it run down the drain.

Today is World Water Day, and National Geographic has released an interactive issue all about water.  It's available free here (only for a few weeks) and I highly recommend it.

The photo above caught my eye because Hallett Cove is a small town outside of Adelaide where my childhood pen pal grew up.  While every family there is certainly not making the same concerted effort to save their valued water, Aussies are in general more in tune with its importance than us Yanks.  Living in Australia and driving through the neverending outback was the first time I think I truly understood fresh water's value.

There it is - those little slivers in yellow.  Enough to go around ....except .....we humans are really skilled at procreating.

Anyway, there is plenty of info worth checking out in the magazine, and Zinio makes it a much more fun experience than reading it on a dead tree.  I especially liked this representation of drugs found in fish from Chicago's North Shore.  The number one drug these fish are being involuntarily prescribed?  Antidepressants.  Along with anti-seizure, antihistamine, and blood pressure meds.  Yikes.