Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Without water, life would cease to exist
Floating down the Brandywine Creek with our backsides poking from the bottom of a tube is a true Chester County delight.
Floating down the Brandywine Creek with our backsides poking from the bottom of a tube is a true Chester County delight.
Almost aimlessly — lazy, with the tug of the creek — we glide and float. Occasionally, in the shallow “rapids” our bum gently bumps upon smoothened rocks.
You can also take a canoe, but in a rented tube you can more easily become one with the wet stuff. Visiting Northbrook Canoe is the perfect summer adventure.
I’m a water baby. I tingle after a shower and usually jump into the nearest lake headfirst in May.
Like a nearby fire, we instantly recognize the sound of a stream or river. Sometimes a river is violent, but often a creek goes by that old moniker — a babbling brook.
I usually don’t mind when it rains, and especially adore the boom and crackle of a thunder storm. Fog is water too, and is way cool. We can feel drizzle before we see it. Light rain is often smeared on the windshield by our wipers.
That blue stuff we squirt on the windshield is water too. And why isn’t it orange or red?
There’s something special about the spray kicked up by a slalom water skier. Such grace! But fall at a high speed and it can feel like you’ve struck concrete.
The desert of Saguaro National Park in Arizona is a glorious playground. I visited on a winter day when it poured buckets of rain, but felt lucky that mine wasn’t the typical park experience.
Nearby is the Boneyard. Hundreds of old airplanes are preserved here since the humidity is low. Lack of water has its uses too.
I wish I had a nickel every time when somebody said, “It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity.” The desert is mighty hot, regardless.
We animals are composed mostly of water. Why does blood at first exit red, but then soon turn brown?
Here in Chester County we know that April showers bring May flowers and how glorious those flow
ers are.
I’m not bragging, but I’ve found that I can boil macaroni and cheese for din-din with a lot less water than it says to use on the box. Oh, maybe I’m bragging after all.
Snow is simply frozen water. On the Utah license plates it reads, “Best Snow on Earth.” They take their skiing seriously in Utah.
There is certainly a world of difference between light and fluffy powder snow produced from clouds rolling across the desert and Great Salt Lake versus that bulletproof stuff at Cannon Mountain in New Hampshire.
When skiing on a rainy day, don’t neglect to cover up with a trash bag or your butt will get as wet as it does on the Brandywine.
Who doesn’t love to jump in a puddle and soak somebody else?
I’ve witnessed a new phenomenon — my glasses sometimes fog when wearing a COVID mask. Where does that water come from? Is it always there?
I truly prefer tap over bottled water unless it’s Kiwi brand. I’m interested in visiting New Zealand just to see the idyllic spot where this delectable water comes from.
My mother always said to beware of the “Black Ice” in Florida. The almost daily rains create hazardous driving conditions. While most summer afternoons, Florida rains last just a few minutes, it’s not uncommon to see a couple of drivers who just couldn’t slow down and crashed. If only they could have slowed down for just a few minutes.
And there is something special about waterfalls. The Mist Trail in Yosemite National Park and the Maid of the Mist boat ride at Niagara Falls are chances on summer days to embrace the elements. The more than 20 waterfalls at Pennsylvania’s Ricketts Glen State Park should make it a national park.
Who doesn’t keep a glass of water by the bedside? And who prefers ice and who doesn’t?
I love waves. The bigger, the better. Who doesn’t love to watch somebody surf a monster wave gracefully? It’s just you and all that power when body surfing.
I enjoy water parks as much as the next kid, but it seems like I always get my buns stuck at the very top.
As a tour guide on Philadelphia’s Ride the Duck amphibious boats it was always fun to watch the faces of the visitors as we “splashed” into the Delaware River. I never got tired of creating a big wake.
And why does a sinking ship seem to take one last gasp and always stick the bow or stern high into the air just before it goes under?
Ice on a pond is nothing more than frozen water. Do they have ice rinks in Florida or Texas?
Tears are amazing. Nuff said.
Something about the vibrancy and delicacy of a Wyeth water color painting is captivating. Almost unreal.
It’s an unquenchable thirst that keep us surrounding ourselves with water. It’s a real treat. Summer is on the way. See you at the pool.