Serap's reflections/ August, 2018
In the last couple of weeks of August 2018, with lack of rain and high temperatures, a large number of trees in Canada disappeared due to forest fires. While there was a great deal of effort to put out the fires, new fires were being born simultaneously. With each tree catching fire, each forest burning down, our hearts have been left wounded. I look at the horizon by the ocean, see and smell the smoke and hope that the fire will be put out soon. The forest fires lighten the dark nights and darken the bright days as I write this article. And that hurts my heart.
Couple of days ago, I was standing out, there was no wind in the air and the sun looked almost like a red orange behind the clouds of smoke. The air was still and visibility was quite low. I felt like I was on a different planet, exposed to dry heat and trying to breath oxygen lacking in air.
As I could not breathe comfortably, I realized what we needed the most for our immediate survival: Oxygen. And I observed the effects of lack of oxygen in my system; tiredness, headache, unwillingness to move, and having feelings of unease. Then I questioned: “what is it like to be a fish in polluted waters when there is lack of oxygen?” Wow! I almost felt like choking as I tried to imagine that.
I suddenly had a strong need to look at ways for increasing oxygen levels in water. We are water. What we need is what water needs. So how can we increase the oxygen levels in water? “What can I do for water” seems to ask for caring for water but it is also caring for ourselves. We are connected to water. While our blood is carrying oxygen in our bodies, water in various forms and bodies is carrying oxygen in the world to sustain life, give life. When we care for water, we care for ourselves.