Water wonder

Where would we be without water? It's about 70% of our bodies, and covers about the same amount of our planet. We drink it, use it for cooking, recreate in it and use it for cleaning.

I'm not going to talk about it as the resource that will probably cause the next world war, its proposed role in the next ice age or global warming. What I am thinking of is the heavenly feel of it on your skin.

As a child, I would play underwater, imagining I was a mermaid or dolphin. I lived under the sea in my games, the blue world beneath the surface (I even once auditioned for Ocean Girl). There is a serenity, a quietness, a freedom there. There's even a reflex where our heart rate slows when our face touches cold water.

I find that same serenity lying in the bottom of a warm bath, bubbles trickling up to the air, surrounded by the warmth. This is probably a primal feeling, dating way back to the love and comfort of our mothers.

But it makes you feel better, human, clean, whole. It is a meditative experience. Or maybe that's just me. The girl who could swim before she could walk. What about you?