Another guest post from Donn Ring.  Who knew water drops had so much to teach us?  [previous post by Donn is here.] Click on the pictures to see them full-size.

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I have often attended 2 martini or chardonnay social hours where mature folk chat about their recent global treks to visit the wonders of civilization — pyramids, temples, castles, palaces, fortresses, cathedrals, chateaus, museums, mausoleums, formal gardens. Monuments of Man. All very impressive and fascinating.

“Oh — Donn, have you seen the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London? Ahh — but then there is the Antwerp World Diamond Centre in Belgium. Have you been there? Stunning! And how about Paris’ Les Arts Decoratif with it’s fascinating display of fashion jewelry?”

Now, I’m not opposed to such light-hearted swapping of travel tales. It’s fun. I’ve done it, and still do it. Perhaps it helps settle the hors d’oeuvres of bacon wrapped shrimp, stuffed mushrooms, pepper jack cheese, melon balls and skewered satay chicken dipped in fermented anchovy peanut sauce before the introduced politician with Cheshire grin tells us how glad they are to be invited and we are such wonderful people.

But sometimes I get the itch to reply: “yes, yes…the Crown Jewels…amazing…and, oh! those diamonds. Yes…splendid! I was in London and Antwerp in ’82. Did the tour. Got to the Louvre but had no idea about Les Arts Decoratif. However, have you ever seen the fabulous JOL jewels? They are miles better and classier than anything I’ve seen in London or Antwerp.”

“Really! I’ve never heard of them. JOLs? I’m surprised. I thought I’d seen the best displays in the world of monarchs, princesses, sheiks, movie stars, mistresses — you name it. What are they? JOLs? Where are they? Do you know of a good tour company that can take me there?”

“Well…it requires special preparation. You’ve got to have the right etiquette and dress properly.”

“I’m up for it. If need be I’ve got a tuxedo, top hat, white gloves and spit-n-polish black shoes. And my Honey has a great formal strapless evening gown that can elegantly show off her necklace.”

“Chuck those. This requires bare feet in an old pair of flip-flops, some worn gardening duds, a billed cap, and a rain jacket…but no umbrella.

“WHAT?! I can’t enter a world class museum like that. They’ll throw me out. Now to what airport do I go to jet to these so called fabulous JOL jewels? Or are you pulling my leg?!”

“Absolutely not. Actually the great museum of JOL jewels is out your back door on a rainy day. Get down on your knees with the old magnifying glass you haven’t used since Junior High School when you tried to make paper burn with sunlight and begin looking at the grasses and weeds — yes, as troubling as it might seem, out of control weeds are some of the best collecting places for JOL jewels. What you will see are very rare jewels in the solar system — liquid drops of water — the essential for life. That’s why I call them JOLs. Jewels of LIFE. Let me show you some I photographed last week in our back yard.

If the value of gems is generally in direct proportion to their rarity, then liquid fresh water is one of the rarest commodities in the solar system. The operative, defining term here is “liquid.”

Using highly sensitive spectrometers, astronomers tell us there is evidence of water in many parts of the solar system, in planets, moons and comets. But almost all of it is bound up as ice, along with carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide ice. The one exception might be Jupiter’s moon Europa. It is covered with highly fractured ice like a jumble of icebergs torn apart and shoved together. This is caused by Jupiter’s strong gravitational pull that creates massive distorting tides of ice on Europa. But they noticed that the magnetic fields of Europa changes fairly frequently. Using magnetometers scientists also suggest that the heating friction of Jupiter’s tidal pull on the surface ice has left an ocean of slush or liquid salt water under the frozen surface that gives this moon its highly conductive electrical character.

But it is this rarity — liquid water — one of the essential foundations of the rich biodiversity on this tiny planet in the vastness of space that we need to treasure. All of life depends on it. Quality human life cannot exist without it.

And it is this gift of life-sustaining water that will become more precious than all the crown jewels and fashion decor together as the world’s population grows from 7 billion to 10 billion in the next generation (when my father was born in 1906 there was one and a half billion). Then if we extrapolate out to the late 21st century on to the 22nd and 23rd….mind boggling. How we begin to manage our use, our waste, our pollutants today can set an example for huge future needs, or else, with our neglect, lend itself to massive global trauma of apocalyptic proportions.

Seeing the JOL jewels is a pilgrimage we all need to make.

It will cost you nothing to look. But our life depends on it. The whole biome of the Earth depends on it. In this light, all the diamonds in Antwerp are worthless. Let’s become tourists of Life. It is far more fascinating than Versailles.

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