On my recent trip to Colorado my cousin, his three kids, and I went camping in the mountains at a state campground near Crested Butte. Its only had a few amenities-one included was a water pump. Or so we thought. We didn't bring any water besides what we had in a few bottles because we planned on using the camp's pump. When we made a trip to the water pump to load up for the night, we realized something was wrong with it-it wouldn't pump water. The camp host wasn't in so we didn't know how to figure out what was going on with the pump.
Our dinner was to be spaghetti so when that time came, Toby poured all the water from our bottles to boil noodles on the camp stove. After that our water was gone. Next we could do no dishes, brush no teeth, and possibly not go on the hike we were planning for the following day.
We never were able to get the pump working so the following morning we drove the six miles back into Crested Butte and were able to fill all our containers at a gas station. After this we were back in business.
When we didn't need water-we got it. Both nights during our dinner time we got rained on. We had a bit of shelter under a tarp, but otherwise we couldn't do much. Our clothes were luckily not saturated, but damp enough to chill you. The following morning I wanted nothing more than sunlight to warm my chilled bones and to dry out the few clothing items I'd brought. Getting up as early as I did I had to wait for the sun to rise high in the sky. There were also very thick clouds keeping me from the warmth I desired. Eventually the sun shone down on me.
The reason that I mention these two things is because when I was having these experiences I realized now simple yet important these things are. We go about our day putting so much importance in our technological amenities, we forget just how important the amenities of the sun and water truly are for us. But in the moment you're truly in need of them most, and they aren't available, you finally give them the importance they are warrented.