"Packing" Water

All life-forms on earth are based on water. Plants store it and pump it UP from their roots (in conduits called xylem) and then back DOWN again to their roots (in conduits called phloem). Animals too store and pump water, but they also "pack" it about on the surface of the Earth. Birds even pack water about through the air! We human animals pack water everywhere as the major component of blood, lymph, fat, and (as female mammals) MILK.

This last item has led me to create the following poetic metaphor: "Water is the milk of all life." Water is also very heavy, so that when a person is "overwieght", it means he is packing too much excess water about. This uses-up a lot of inefficient energy and slows that person down. Just take a quick look around, and you will immediately see how and where too many people are packing too much body-water about. Notice also how sluggishly they move. Too much body-water packing has robbed them of essential vitality.

Arnold Schwarzenegger became very famous when he appeared in a movie called "Pumping Iron". This title referred to the training of his muscles by the repetitive lifting of heavy metal barbells and dumbells. This weight training was very good for both increasing the muscular energy system of his body and for decreasing its water content. I too recommend weight training for the body, but instead of using metal weights, I like to use plastic bottles of water. There are two reasons for this, as follows:

1. If you drop a plastic water bottle on your toes, it does much less injury than a metal weight does.

2. There's a certain aesthetic in "Pumping Water" with plastic bottles which, I feel, connects me more firmly with Nature, especially with trees. In fact, I like to think that when I do this outdoors, the trees are highly sensitive to, interested in, and entertained by my activity, especially when it takes the form of dance. Therefore, my habit of "pumping water" has become a way of "dancing with trees".