A simple joy

Last summer I started craving ice. Was it the temperature? That’s what I thought. Then I found myself eating a whole tray of ice in the middle of winter days. By March I went for a medical checkup. I had read somewhere it could be a sign of anemia. An issue I’ve had before. The doc said eating ice is not a biggy. Let’s do the tests anyway. Iron levels low. Supplement prescription.

A year later, not an ideal spring. I am still eating a tray of ice or two almost on a daily basis. A simple joy, I thought. It only requires water. Clean running water. Read that again: clean running water. Which I can access by pulling a lever inside my home. Magic!

Let’s not forget the mold I fill with water to get my heart-shaped ice pieces. It required marine life to die and fossilize over years. Or centuries, perhaps? Plus the discovery and machinery and engineering knowledge for extraction and processing.

Yet, what is that water and mold without a fridge. It’s May. The temperature is (hopefully) 15° C outside and I need freezing temperatures for my water to turn into ice. I need a fridge. I have a fridge. It was built with materials sourced from different parts around the world. It required engineering, like the oil for my mold. It happened thanks to human invention on top of human invention. It also needed logistics of fabrication and distribution to make it my way.

Oh, how would that fridge work without electricity? Only a power plant, huh?

That ice craving might not be such a simple joy, after all.

My life, as a whole, is a collection of possibilities, serendipities, opportunities, other people’s work.

My life is a life worth appreciating.

Yours, too.

Happy Sunday,
Maria 🌺