It’s all about water.

Talk about a love-hate relationship. Our very existence depends on it yet we spend lots of time and effort fighting with it.

This time of year the temperature is the most important factor affecting our relationship with water. When the temperature falls below freezing, our otherwise-friendly liquid bursts pipes, turns decks into skating rinks and foils your desire to roll down your car window. Just to name a few of the headaches that ice causes.

When the ferries stop running during a storm, it’s what the wind does to the water that causes a lot more trouble than just the wind itself. It rumples up the surface enough to make the inside of the big ferries into scary carnival rides. The wind piles the water up near the shore and in the bays so that it has nowhere else to go but onto the land, flooding streets and washing away sand dunes.

Water is the main reason that dirt roads need constant filling and regrading. A tiny puddle grows into a lake in no time when tires splash through it. Even a pool of water on pavement has the power to develop into a pothole.

The outer surface of your house is all about keeping water outside. Wood doesn’t rot without moisture. Moss only needs occasional dampness to make a home on your shingles. Rain gutters are mentioned at least once every hour on the radio and TV. They are the first line of defense against a wet cellar.

A rainy day disappoints house painters, sunbathers, dog walkers and folks who like to dry their laundry on a clothesline, just to name a few inconvenienced folks. At the same time, we are relieved to hear the news that our local drought is over. Over for the time being anyway.

For all of the drawbacks of coexisting with water, we certainly value it highly in obvious ways. Waterfront homes, swimming pools, recreational water parks, irrigated lawns. Civilization only occurs where there is water or where water can be delivered to in sufficient quantities.

All of the fresh water that we depend on here on these islands falls from the sky. The wild flora and fauna that surrounds us is at the mercy of the whims of nature to provide precipitation. A rainy day or sometimes a rainy week is surely a mixed blessing. But a blessing nonetheless.