by

On a Beach Walk: No. 8

I like walking the beach as it is good for the body, mind, and soul – and refreshing on my feet.

As I walk a vast mass of water is 180 degrees to my side – a mass of water with its currents moving it ashore and beyond. The moving water that splashes and refreshes my feet.

I think of water moving in its cycle. Where has that drop on my knee been? Who has it touched? Did it touch a television or movie star? A world leader? A historic figure? Perhaps da Vinci, Aristotle, Alexander the Great, or Confucius? A farmer, carpenter, librarian, artist, fisherman, musician, or business leader? Or even Lucy the early hominid, Lucille Ball, or Kenny Rogers.

I think of ancient people during ancient times who were unaware of water’s cyclic ways. No wonder they saw the sky as a solid dome separating the waters from above and below. No wonder they saw rain as something that came down from their god above.

Water – so much of it – so many uses – so vital for life – no wonder it is a powerful metaphor. There is much to wonder about water, but now I will settle on allowing my mind to wonder as water refreshes my feet.

48 thoughts on “On a Beach Walk: No. 8”

  3. I need to review your walking barefoot in the water thoughts before I leave for the beach in Feb. One of my puzzlers is the reason ancient people gave to explain seawater not being drinkable?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  4. Your beach walk, Frank, has become iconic, a la Michael Jackson’s moon walk, if I dare compare. The banter apart, I loved your ruminations on water, and its eternally sustaining influence on life. Together with the apposite song clip, it reminds me of waters in Tennyson’s Brook burbling, “For men may come and men may go, / But I go on for ever”.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Raja,
      I admit that your Michael Jackson reference in terms of this post made me laugh! There are many great quotes referencing water … so here’s one for you from da Vinci … In rivers, the water that you touch is the last of what has passed and the first of that which comes; so with present time.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  9. Hola aFrank,
    Thank you for taking me on your beach walk. It was lovely. The water was just right. 😊
    The sounds in the video that water 💦 makes was very interesting. Since I’m a curious little thing I’m going to get ice cubes and hit them together. 😃 I may try to get a sound from a wine 🍷 glass too.
    Great 👍 post
    Cheers
    Isadora 😎

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  10. Maybe that drop of water touched Trump. Are you turning orange yet? 😄 Sorry, Frank, couldn’t resist. Your post is lovely, and now I’m craving the ocean. Which I won’t get stuck between Cleveland and Akron.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Carrie,
      I’m know my blood is Bowling Green and Bengal Orange …. but that hasn’t affected my skin tone or hair! Meanwhile, at least looking out over Lake Erie is close to you … and think about how far away I am to a large body of water!

      Like

      Reply

  13. Yes, there is pretty much a guarantee that a large enough drop of water will contain water molecules that had once touched Aristotle or Trump.
    In fact, I once estimated that most of water molecules on Earth had once been a part of dinosaur poop and/or urine. You’re welcome. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      • If you say so… dinosaurs lived for about 1.8×10^8 years. Using current land mammal biomass of 1×10^9 metric tons to estimate average dinosaur biomass (we have lots humans and domesticated animals but much fewer wild animals, and dinosaurs basically covered the same niches the land mammals, birds, some marine mammals cover now, so the today’s land mammal biomass has to be the same ballpark as dinosaur biomass).
        An average human weighs 137 pounds and produces on average 1000 pounds of urine and 360 pound of feces in a year, so let’s say in a year an average human produces 8-9 times his/her weight in water coming out as urine or feces.
        Using a human as an estimate for the water coming through dinosaurs, as urine and feces, 1 billion tons of dinosaurs would produce about 8 billion tons of wastewater a years. In 180 million years, that’s 1.44×10^18 metric tons of wastewater.
        The total weight of all water on Earth is 1.39×10^18 tons – almost the same amount! Also, the water on Earth stays on Earth – only a tiny bit goes off to space (about 25% had evaporated in 4 billion years, so only about 2% would have left since the dinosaurs evolved ) and even less new water arrives, which means that on average, every water molecule would have cycled once trough a dinosaur urine or feces.

        Like

        Reply

        • You didn’t seem to account for the water on Earth at the time of the dinosaurs nor the water in plants, bacteria, and other non-animal life forms while assuming feces and urine are 100% water while discounting the amount of water released by other means as exhalation and perspiration. Otherwise, interesting numbers.

          Like

        • Actually, the 1.38×10^18 tons does include all Earth’s water – seas, rivers, lakes, swamps, groundwater, glaciers, clouds, and water in all living things.
          I assumed urine is about 90-95% water and feces is about 50%, which means 1000 pounds of urine plus 360 pounds of feces would contain about 1080-1130 pounds of water, which does equal about 8 times the average human weight of 137 pounds.
          I did not account for the perspiration since I have serious doubts that dinosaurs were able to sweat – not even all mammals sweat, as far as I know (certainly not nearly as much as I do). Also, I was mainly interested in dinosaur urine and feces. Dinosaur saliva and exhalation just sounds a little less fascinating. 🙂

          Like

Leave a reply to Cayman Thorn Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.