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Saturday, May 18, 2013

"Liquid"

I have an indulgence.  Every so often I load up my car with glass wine jugs I rescued from the recycle bins at City Hall.  People around here don’t drink much wine in jugs, or maybe people who drink wine in jugs don’t recycle much, so just finding and sterilizing acceptable bottles is the first step in my indulgence.

The next step is to sit back and take a pretty drive to the country to fill the bottles with spring water.  Spring water used to be free at a lovely spot alongside a river tributary, but people have built fancy houses uphill and messed up that pretty place.  Now I have to drive a little farther and pay 25 cents per gallon.  I think it’s worth it.  Even when I was at my most poor, I kept filling my water jugs.

The place I go now is a trout club, if you can imagine such a thing.  There’s a restaurant with food that looks really good, but us po’ folk don’t get to eat there.  Members only, though we are allowed on the property to fill our jugs and look out the pretty pond and see the goats eating grass because people at the trout club don’t want to listen to lawnmowers, or maybe people with $3,000 to join a trout club have a thing for exotic goats.  You can see the website here.

Part of my pleasure in going to the spring is the community of non-members filling jugs.  It’s a very mixed crowd.  Some people drive up in expensive SUVs and some people drive up in the rattiest pickups you’ve ever seen.  The SUV people only get a few gallons.  The truck people bring many 5 gallon jugs.  I’m somewhere in the middle with a gas-efficient car and a lot of 1-gallon jugs.

We all do the obligatory head bob at each other and scrupulously keep our bottles away from their bottles, and keep our bottle caps separate from their caps.  Sometimes we comment on the weather, such as “nice day” or “can you believe it’s this cold?”  Only the intrepid and the truck drivers come in the winter.  Then we do the head bob with a commiserating grimace as we get our hands wet with ice water.

Sometimes I think that the people around the spring are probably fascinating people with stories to tell, but nobody tells their stories, and I don’t know how to get them to tell.  The old people have a healthy, kind look – the type of people who probably worked as naturalists who retired to a hobby farm with Amish neighbors.  The truck drivers probably hunt out of season and have a deer hanging in their yard.

It’s a place where very different people collide, but it’s a polite and quiet place, and sometimes I need polite and quiet.  It restores my soul to bob my head at people who value chlorine-free water without having to talk about anything other than the varying degree of overcast skies.

When all my bottles are filled, and my heart rate has dropped 20 or 30 points, I get back in my car and drive home, racing along the back roads, up and down giant hills, and back to society.  Sometimes I sing, and sometimes I find room in my head to think about stuff I never have time to think about at other times.  I drink my water every night and relish my indulgence, looking forward to my next trip to the trout club.

20 comments:

  1. How interesting Linda that you have a local source of spring water. It sounds like all sorts of people enjoy that watering hole. Just don't get the trout and the water mixed up together, you could end up with something very fishy in your glass. Your painting is great but I always think that fish look quite sad don't they x

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  2. Despite the fantastic illustration, I loved reading your story about your trip to the trout club. Never mind their website... I'd love to see pics YOU take next time you head up that way! Following you!

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  3. Love your trout illustration! Looks good enough to eat :)
    I've never heard of a trout club, though, with a spring to boot. We have several springs around here (hence the name of our city!). They each have a distinctive taste to them, with none that I'd want to have a whole jug full of!

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  4. I love the taste of my spring water. It's so... non-chemical and clean. The trout just get the runoff from the spring, so unless I dip into the pond I think it would be hard to mix things up.

    Thanks for the follow Aloqin!!! Good point about taking my own pictures at the trout club. I'll try to remember to bring a camera sometime.

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  5. How would imagine we would drive SUV's to bring back home jars filled with spring water?! It is a strange thing, isn't it? It tells we appreciate back-to-nature and we appreciate honest products, we need time spend in nature. There is a whole story behind your actions that shows we have gone too far with luxury goods and we long to go back to (honest) basics.
    I have enjoyed your reading and I would enjoy joining up and visiting the trout farm for water.

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  6. If you're ever in Ohio Paula I'd be glad to take you to the trout club. I think you're right, there is a bigger story behind getting spring water. The people with deer hanging in their yards need the water because their wells have been tainted by agriculture and fancy houses. The rest of us prefer just water in our water. I'm so glad I have a choice and can have this luxury.

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  7. I have a 1 gallon glass cider jug that I now have to haul out of the recycle bin and decide where to fill it with spring water. Reminds me of my mom filling a 5 gallon collapsible vinyl water container at the spring as we left the country every summer, how sweet that tasted back in the city, by the greedy cup full on hot fall days. Your posts always point me to meaningful memories, thanks so much!

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  8. I find it really interesting that you go ways length to fill up jugs with water. But your description of the place is fascinating. Sounds like all kinds of people come to this "water hole". And the trout club something of its own. Great post.

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  9. Cider jugs are my favorites, but hard to find. I haven't seen anyone with 5 gallon collapsable containers. It sounds like a great idea, but I enjoy my treasure hunt for glass bottles. I'll try to remember some of your photography advice next time I go to the trout club Otto. It would be fun to see what you'd do with the subject. Thanks for the comments!

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  10. We just bought a Toyota Rav-4. A marginally expensive small suv. But on the other hand our other vehicle is my Dad's old truck. An extremely rusty and hillbilly ride. So we have duel personalities!

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  11. What a gorgeous illustration, Linda! Beautiful work I tell ya. And how wonderful to read of the trout club. Places like that are the perfect balance to a busy-tread-mill like pace that life gets sometimes. Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend coming up - wishing you time to enjoy nature, creating and you-time! : )

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  12. I used to have a Grandpa pickup that was rusting out on the sides. Sometimes I thought that truck showed my real personality :) Thanks for the comments, and a happy Memorial Day weekend to you too!!

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  13. This is a great story that comes from the "Liguid" prompt! And your illustration is appealing to the eye, as always.

    I can sense the peace and relaxation that you get from the spring water trip and ritual. It's earthy and natural; kinda makes you feel like you're doing something good.

    Do you share your "liquid" with your new roommate? :)

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  14. Can't seem to distinguish between those Qs and Gs.

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  15. Wow! What a fascinating little slice of life! I had to go check out the place and see if they had any photos of their goat lawnmowers. (Just one baby.)

    Lovely trout, especially that really cool design in the water!

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  16. This is such a beautiful trout, and such a nice story too! The Trout Club seems a wonderful place and makes your water ritual come along with a lot of pleasures. Thankfully it's not necessary to go to such lengths in Germany as our tap water is not chlorined and perfectly drinkable. But, we don't enjoy such a beautiful ride to get drinkable water either.
    I looked up how much a gallon weighs and am wondering now why anybody should need any more exercise if he's able to carry a filled (!) 5 gallon glas jug!

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  17. I like your thinking about exercise Heike! Just indulging myself counts for something. YAY!!!

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