I’ve had Flint, Michigan on my mind. Six years after the beginning of the Flint water crisis, all of the lead pipes have yet to be replaced. In the middle of a pandemic, people have to contend with not having clean water. In 2020, six years after learning of lead contamination in the Flint water supply, US citizens in a state that borders four of the five Great Lakes (which together account for the largest source of fresh water on the planet) have to line up to get cases of water bottles distributed by churches and other agencies, so they can have clean water. In the middle of a pandemic. When you’re not even supposed to leave your home if you don’t have to, people have to leave their homes to interact with others (who also had to leave their homes and similarly wrangle with COVID-19), to get clean drinking water, despite having indoor plumbing. In the United States of America.

This boggles my mind. This can’t be happening in America, but it is. This should be on the daily news, but it’s not.

And that’s my bit of frustrated and saddened creativity for today.