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{HeartTouchers.com} *Drinking Water* ______________________________________ If you enjoy this email service, I encourage you to spread the word to family and friends that we may bring inspiration the lives of many! If you are not on the list and this has been passed along to you, join us by visiting: http://www.HeartTouchers.com Be sure to check out our inspirational list just for teenagers! http://www.Heart4Teens.com ____________________________________________ Michael's updated book Heart Touchers "Life-Changing Stories of Faith, Love, and Laughter," is finally here! ($13.95) Visit the link below to preview the book! Personalized autographed copies are available at no extra charge and we pay the shipping for you! An E-book version is also available for just $3.25! http://www.hearttouchers.com/books Be sure to let us know who you would like it autographed for and then allow about two weeks for us to sign it and send it on its way to you.Credit card, PayPal, Checks, and Money orders accepted! The book is also available through Amazon.com, Borders.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and Booklocker.com _________________________________________ DRINKING WATER by Al Batt My thirst crept through the day. As farmers, we worked in the sun. My forebears didn't plant trees for shade. They built houses for shade. The sun could be a bully. The hard, physical work created a ravenous thirst. We didn't spend time looking for a safe place to drink water. We were not particularly wise to the ways of the world, but we knew where to go when thirsty. We weren't street smart, but we were hydrated. We'd go to that old pump situated in the middle of the yard and wish for water. It wasn't a wishing well. We just pumped like crazy and wished for water. The pump was the go-to-guy on hot days. It brought up cool water from deep in the ground. The communal, metal drinking cup, dented from experience, hung from the old pump. An old stiff, rusty wire provided a hook for the cup. The handle of the pump was exercised and water ran into a pail located under the pump's mouth. The cup was used as a dipper. To get a drink, you dipped one out of the bucket and then hung the cup back on the wire for the next thirsty soul. Everybody drank from the same cup. My mother was not a big worrier about germs, but mothers and lawyers are required to think in terms of worst-case scenarios. My mother expressed concern about everyone drinking from a single cup. She warned me about using the same cup as men who chewed tobacco. Men wearing moustaches or beards drinking out of a communal cup bothered her. She said you never knew what might be living in all that hair, but she suspected horrible things lurked there. There are those who claimed that the cup made it possible to pass along a cold from one person to another, but we shared contagious maladies whether we drank from the cup or not. Mom advised me to place my lips on the dipping cup as close as possible to the handle. She reasoned that fewer folks drank from that area and I'd be less likely to make contact with a germ in that vicinity. No one drinking from the cup felt compelled to point out certain critical health issues. We did dump the bucket and rinse it quickly before dipping into it. We did this to wash away any chicken feathers, bird poop, or wiggletails that were in it. There were seldom any wiggletails in the bucket. That's because most of them were in the rain barrel that stood alongside the house. The barrel collected rainwater and wiggletails. Wiggletails are mosquito larvae and move through the water with an ungainly jerky motion. I loved that old pump and its partner, the dented cup. I would have to admit that part of the reason for my feelings were likely because that when I was at the pump, I was not working. I was a grinning boy, happy to be dragged away from productive work. I was a tall drink of waterabout half-fullwhen I would take the thirst challenge. There were days when I would drink endless amounts of water thanks to a generous and understanding bladder. There were days when I would drink so much water that I could hear it sloshing in my body when I'd give myself a bit of a wiggle. I'd drink until my thirst was compromised. The water was free and I couldn't get enough of it. It was my habit to take one of Mom's delicious biscuits, poke a hole into it with a pencil and fill the roll with honey. I'd pinch the end and stuff it into my pocket. I'd ball up a bologna sandwich and shove it into another pocket. There the foodstuffs would commingle with whatever else was hiding in the deep, dark recesses of my pockets. The cold water from that old pump helped me wash such foods down. At that time, I didn't suspect that because things were the way they were, they would not stay the way they were. The old pump is gone and it took the dented cup with it. Change is seldom easy, but not always bad. If Jack and Jill would have had bottled water, Jack would never have fallen down and broken his crown. The cup was from a time when "neighbor" was both a noun and a verb. It should still be so today. Drinking from an old communal drinking cup taught us all a lesson. We're all drinking from the same cup. Al Batt, © 2005 SnoEowl@aol.com Write Al and let him know your thoughts on his story! Al Batt is a husband, father and grandfather who lives on a farm near Hartland, Minnesota. He is a writer, speaker and storyteller. He writes a newspaper column. He does a regular TV and radio show, contributes to many magazines and newspapers, and is an avid birder. _________________________________________ Thought For The Day: "Genius is nothing but a great aptitude for patience." - Benjamin Franklin Verse for the Day: "Imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised." Hebrews 6:12 Kid's Thought For The Day: "If you stand on tiptoe to be measured this year, you'll have to stand on tiptoe for the rest of your life." Parent's Thought For The Day: "There never was a child so lovely but his mother was glad to get him asleep." - Ralph Waldo Emerson Coach's Thought For The Day: "Each Warrior wants to leave the mark of his will, his signature, on important acts he touches. This is not the voice of ego but of the human spirit, rising up and declaring that it has something to contribute to the solution of the hardest problems, no matter how vexing!" -Pat Riley Writer's Thought For The Day: "I like to write early in the morning, and if I wake up at 5 a.m. or even 4 a.m., it is with a sense of gratitude for the extra hours of pure quiet. I make a pot of coffee, boot up my laptop, sit anywhere in the house that seems promising and launch forth." --Garrison Keillor Deep Thought For The Day: You know those shows where people call in and vote on different issues? Did you ever notice there's always like 18% "I don't know". It costs 90 cents to call up and vote... They're voting "I don't know." "Honey, I feel very strongly about this. Give me the phone. (Into phone) I DON'T KNOW! (hangs up, looking proud) Sometimes you have to stand up for what you believe you're not sure about." __________________________________________ Video Imagery --Michael's Video Production Business Dear Michael, I just wanted to take a minute to thank you for the beautiful video you made for me! It was so special to see both of my parents in tears as they watched their children grow up in pictures before their eyes! I loved the way you made Estania's part set aside from the rest--that was the part that really got them! The music was beautiful. My mom kept blubbering, "What song is that?" I don't know how you did such a beautiful job with the video in such a short time. I really appreciate your doing it so quickly. You have a wonderful gift, and I thank God that you are using it to create such sentimental memories. I hope that I can find my niche like that in an area that I love. Your video gave us one of our most lasting Christmas memories! I hope yours was filled with moments to be treasured forever! Love, Trisha Silverhill, AL Let me make you a video from your photos! Check out my video production business by visiting: http://www.hearttouchers.com/video_imagery __________________________________________ Do you feel as if life has no meaning for you? http://www.greatcom.org/english/four.htm |
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Touching Lives - One E-mail at a Time! Author Michael T. Powers - HeartTouchers @ aol.com
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