The mercury is rising

and we are in for a heatwave - in more ways than one.
This summer has, apart from the occasional day of extreme heat, been reasonably bearable. On the hottest days we have tried to stay indoors. The very elderly and the very young need to be kept cool and hydrated.  I am fortunate that, in hot weather, the Senior Cat can - and does - head to the kitchen and drink a glass of water more than once during the day.
We have a guest coming for lunch and I will shortly head off to get some fresh salad vegetables. When I go I will take water with me. I know that even if I don't feel thirsty I will need the liquid.
I am not much interested in those "designer" bottles of "spring water". I see no reason to pay a couple of dollars - or more - when I can take something from home. We have rainwater tanks, one particularly big one and several smaller tanks. The smaller tanks are used for the garden, supplemented by the hoses now that the Senior Cat finds it difficult to cart water even in his walker tray. He wants to do the watering as much as he can so yes, we  use the hoses as well now.  The large tank is drinking water and some other household uses - although it could be much more if we had it plumbed to an internal tap. 
I wonder if we could do all this with politics? When things heat up there they need to be cooled down. The present government is likely to fail because it did not cool down internally. It wasn't get watered. Parts are breaking off and trying to survive alone. Oh yes, they are getting a little water for now - but will it last? If we have days of political heat the parts that have broken off may not survive but they will still have left the main plants wilted and struggling to survive too.
The plants need food too - something they are not getting right now.
Someone complained I had been too quiet over the summer. There have been no letters to the editor of late. I told them I had been busy.
They told me to start watering the plants. Maybe I will - but others need to help provide the food.