dry as a bone

it's amazing how easy it is to take simple things for granted in this day and age of convenience. you get so wrapped up in the silly things like cellphones, tv shows, he-said, she-said, baby mama drama, etc. All the while, the planet is still turning and there is an entire world that you are only a teeny weeny piece of going through an amazing transformation. Life on this planet, no matter how much we think we are in control, is still precious. It takes only a flick of mother nature's wrist to induce a devastating catastrophe. Maybe as kids you just don't think about it much and you take it for granted that way. I was pretty eco-conscious as a kid. I thought everybody was, honestly. Conserving was kind of a given - especially in the korean culture. I'm used to rationing water and reducing waste. I started living my own life and got trapped in the american lifestyle of abundance and waste and this drought has turned a glaring spotlight onto my evil ways. Like many people, I took water for granted. I have never "felt" the effects of a drought, whereas our ancestors relied upon it life or death. Thankfully, I don't waste extreme amounts of water like say, a wealthy family with a 3 acre front lawn. But I could have conserved more I suppose. I'm not so worried about our water consumption as much as our waste production. The recycling program at our house is still working out very well. The next thing I worry about is our electricity consumption, which is out of this world. I really want some solar panels (I need to cut down some of these trees, first, though!). However, this past weekend the drought took center stage when we went up to my mom's driving range and saw this:

this is the fishing pond. the black thing you see on top of the pipe is the overflow drain. the wall behind it is the dam. there's barely enough water in this poor little pond for fish. I imagine they are all dead. the lake looked ok, and i think it's partly because they sacrificed this fishing pond to make sure the lake didn't go down too much. it's weird walking into what used to be a fishing pond. the floating dock was sitting in the reeds on the wall of the pond. the dogs however, saw water and dove right in - to the mud. it was actually pretty funny watch louie and bibi try to run in mud up to their shoulders. of course, syrus wouldn't dare get that dirty.

in other news, I have officially become a craft addict. I have spent a ridiculous amount of money of fabric - but dear god they are the most beautiful fabrics ever. I almost don't want to cut them. I now have plenty of fabric to make some crafts and even a few skirts. I haven't given up on knitting - I think that's just going to take a little longer. I have banned myself from craft shopping in the meantime. It was starting to get out of hand.