Fountains are nice

Why fountains are nice:

• if you sing to them nicely, they sing back. This is based, in part, on the "research" of Masaru Emoto suggesting that if you say kind and loving words to water, it will form lovely crystals when frozen. Nice if it were true. Maybe it is. What the bleep do I know?

• they invite finger splashing and, if of the right configuration and position, toe splashing as well. Refreshing.

• unlike neighbors, they don't throw parties to which you might not get invited.

• things float in them. Like little boats. Like leaves. Like wishes.

• rain doesn't bother them.

Of the infinite value of fountains, the Dickinsonian oracle proclaims:

I had a Jewel in my fingers -
And went to sleep -
The day was warm, and winds were prosy -
I said, "'Twill keep" -

I woke - and chid my honest fingers,
The Gem was gone -
And now, an Amethyst remembrance
Is all I own -
(E. Dickinson, 261)