My okra is coming up!!!  We've had rain--which hadn't happened in months to any extent.  I am so very thankful.  The settlers depended entirely on rain--or if they were lucky, a well.  But with a well or a cistern, they still had to carry water to the plants.  Here I am with hoses, and a wonderful sprinkling system.  We are so blessed in America.  Half (or more) of the world is still carrying water.

You don't know or think about what you have here in America until you lose it.  When they turn the water off to do a repair on the street, I am totally unhinged.  At least you know ahead of time so that you can fill the bathtubs--unless it is an unexpected broken main.  Notice the "s"-- I have three bathtubs and I have never been in two of them.  Guests have, however.  I "downsized" when I left Pryor from two bathrooms to three. (?)  It wasn't my plan, there just wasn't anything small close to the girls.  I certainly don't need three bathrooms, that's for sure.

Like I said, God blesses us and we forget about what it was he blessed us with.  Running water--that's what.  Turn a tap and water comes out.  Even hot water.  Praise God.  If you've ever been camping where all you had was spring water, you know the ritual.  You go get the water in a bucket, round up twigs and logs--and if you remembered a match--you start a fire to boil the water.

That's what my Gran had to do.  Everybody took a bath on Saturday.  First the babies and toddlers, then children from the least to the oldest.  And if the bath water wasn't too dirty, next came Gran and Pops.  Otherwise, you had to go fetch more water, and heat it up on the fire.  You can see why people in the 1800's didn't take a bath but once a week.  (Or less.)

And of course there were the outhouses.  Way out back of the house.  If you had to go in the night, you had to light a lantern to see where you were going.  So everyone kept "Thunder jugs" under the bed.  Which someone had to empty each morning.  And toilet paper hadn't been invented.  It was the Sears Roebuck catalog or a corn cob.  I don't know which was worse.  You haven't really lived until you have used a corn cob.

Praise God for running hot water, flushing toilets, toilet paper, and sprinkling systems.