In this our third year of drought, water conservation is a priority

For nearly a week recently, a neighbor's sprinklers had been running day and night.

Normally I don't pay much attention to these details, but it is a bit of concern as we are in a water rationing situation in my district.

Each morning I take my cup of coffee to the shaded deck and sip away, my thoughts taking flight to far away places before I re-enter reality and get ready for work. But those darned sprinklers interrupt my blissful moments. Then concern kicks in and I begin to worry about these folks. When I asked my grandson if he saw anyone stirring about over at the neighbor's house the past few days, he said he didn't pay any attention to them.

But what if the tables were turned and it was grandma's house? "Would he be concerned?" I asked.

"Nope!" he said.

I just shrugged my shoulders and went back to my coffee, still wondering about those sprinklers and shaking my head that most kids just don't worry about things that don't directly affect them.

I found the best way to avoid over usage is to have the irrigation system on a timer. About four years ago, I purchased a system that fit my budget at the time and had it installed to address the lawns, garden and shrubs, both potted and in-ground.

Not only has it been a blessing on those times when I've been out of town a few days, it has brought my water bill to a constant level. And, I don't have to bother a neighbor or pay a youngster to water for me. Once the rains begin in the fall, I shut the system off with the flip of a switch.

Learning how to re-program it in the spring was tedious, but I finally have it mastered, after umpteen times struggling with it when the power went off one summer. The power wasn't off long, just enough to throw the timer off whack.

Hopefully everything is alright with my neighbors. I just never noticed the water running so long in one time period. I thought about calling the local Citizen's Patrol to do a welfare check just in case there was a medical problem.

I panic every time I forget and let my water run for any length of time.

Remember the good ol' days when we all had swamp coolers. Our family lived near Shasta Lake and our water pipes were buried deep so the water was really cold if you let it run a few minutes. That's just it. We could let the water run and we weren't concerned about it. There was plenty of water.

In fact, I remember our evaporative cooler was on top of the house, but was shaded by a giant walnut tree, the biggest tree in the north state, we thought.

Evaporate coolers need hot sun to make the water evaporate as it runs through the pads. Well this system had a deliberate leak that made the runoff water trickle through a drain pipe, recycling it back to the earth - more strategically - in my mother's flower bed. It wasn't wasted, but was put to good use as it kept us comfortable all summer long.

Mom's contented, thirst-quenched flowers bloomed all summer.

Decades later, drip systems became an innovative method of irrigation and today there is a fitting, sprinkler and drip system for all applications.

With so much water going south and a drought that plagues us, we must curtail all excess irrigation. Some folks go to extremes like putting a brick or two in the toilet tank so it uses less water. And, don't run the water needlessly.

Hopefully we won't be rationed so thin that the country dries up. But, with Mother Nature doing her occasional flip flops ... now there's one inconsistency we can depend on.