Woke up this morning to my niece throwing a mini-tantrum after discovering that there was no water and she had intentionally put off washing her hair until the morning. That blew over when it became obvious there was nothing we could do about it, but it could be the rest of the day before we get water back. A main line broke right around the corner.

The city has been replacing all the water lines for months now and they have spent the last week on the big one just about a block away. Something didn’t get buttoned up right I guess when they covered up the hole last night.

But it isn’t wide-spread. If I need water, I can get it easily. And there are plenty of places close by I can go if I need to take a shower. And the weather is cool and overcast, so the garden will last for most of the day without a drink.

I can’t help but think of my friends in the East who are suffering without power in the horrible heat. It is more than their gardens that are at risk.

There is a feeling of helplessness in what has been happening across the country (and around the world) the past couple of years. Hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, fires. All with such fierce intensity that it is hard to comprehend.

It certainly makes you think. But to what end? No one agrees on why this is happening. Climate change – yes – that seems obvious. But why? Cyclic? Induced by mankind?

Since I can’t do the dishes, but I do have power, and it is a national holiday, I have time to ponder.

What strikes me in the global discussion about climate change (using the new phrase now that global warming has been dropped), is that both sides are probably right.

Digging deep into our planet’s past shows dramatic cyclic changes in temperatures. But at the same time, our population has exploded and continues to grow, so that has to have some sort of affect. We cannot go back to a “simpler” time – that just isn’t possible. We need water and we need power.

Would fewer people solve the climate change problem? Would fewer people reduce our need for electricity? Logic says fewer people would consume less energy, as well as less water for that matter.

I just finished a book that sort of freaked me out with it’s story line about a secret group genetically engineering food supplies to intentionally starve people to reduce the population.

No water. No power. Which is worse? Probably no water. We simply can’t survive without water. But spend a little time thinking about what life would be like without electricity. Well, for those of us who are used to life with abundant electricity. There are parts of the world that still don’t have electricity. And many of those places suffer from lack of clean water as well.

Ultimately, is it a question of saving the people or the planet? And who decides?