30 May 2007

Divining. Yes, it's true

Some weeks back, I drove a friend to his friends "new" single-wide which is located on some way-back acreage in North Central Arkansas. I mean waaaay back. I doubt if I could find my way there again.

Anyhow, this trailer looked like a Cops episode waiting to happen. For that matter, the girl who just bought it would be in the episode, too. As the star, I think. She had a couple of pretty nice teeth.

So, we're out admiring the setting and she goes into the Cops set and comes out with 2 pieces of wire cut from an old wire coat hanger. They are maybe 7" long each and bent into "L" shapes about 3"x4". She calmy states that she'd heard that there was a water line buried along the front line of her property and she wanted to mark it. She slowly moves towards the front of her property line holding one wire in each hand pointing straight ahead. She moves slowly forward....and then they begin to cross.

"Yeah, right.", I said. She laughs and my friend laughs. AT me. So she says, "Watch this.", and goes over to the side of the property where a temporary 1" pvc water feed had been set above ground to supply her trailer until she could tap the main. As she crosses the pipe the wires cross again. Well, sheeyit, I think, anyone can cross the rods when you can see the water line and pretend to "find" a water line underground that may or, more likely, may not be there. She hands the wire els to me. She tells me to hold them somewhat firmly but to keep my thumbs off of them. I walked to the pvc line and they crossed. I went to the front of her yard to where she had "divined" the buried water main and they crossed. I swear I tried them a dozen times. I went up and down where the buried line was (not knowing it's route) and every place the rods crossed, they indicated that there was a pipe there and those places indicated a straight line. I went back to the pvc line in a dozen different locations and every damned time the wires pulled together.

Then they showed me the penny in the baggie of water...You tack that up near your door and it will keep bugs from flying into the door.

The Elks club does it at their entrances, too. Maybe there is something to the back country tales.

The Geez

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