Water, water everywhere!

We’ve heard a lot about water this spring. Too much water and we get floods that cause horrible damage. Too little and there’s drought, fires and famine. We need the right amount of precipitation for plant growth and animal thirst. Some of the rain needs to filter through the ground to be cleansed, absorb mineral nutrients and then sustain the water table. Surface water provides evaporation. Condensation happens in the atmosphere as water vapor condenses into clouds that spread rain. Then the cycle continues. What a marvelous, automatic system powered by the sun that just happens to be the right distance away.

A second wonder is happening whether we realize it or not. The root hairs on the roots of plants absorb water from the ground by osmosis. Then capillary action causes the water to rise up the tree trunk, limbs and twigs through tiny capillary tubes to reach every leaf, blossom or fruit. Capillary action happens because the polarized water molecule ‘climbs’ up the capillary tube as it is drawn to the molecules of the capillary wall. A huge tree can draw tons of water hundreds of feet straight up. In the leaves the process of photosynthesis produces food, transpires oxygen into the air for us and expels some water vapor. Eventually this helps clouds form, precipitation results and the cycle keeps going. It is all there to enable life to survive. It was created that way for us and all the plants and animals. Amazing!!

Gratefulness for that will help to keep us on the sunny side.

Henry Wiebe