Kids are Kids

Tales from the Backyard…  Kids are kids where-ever you live and park brats are no different.  There was a 3 and 4 year difference between ages from my son, the twins and the older boys they wanted to play with.  The older boys really didn't want the younger kids around so one spring they said to the boys, if they go over and eat those plants, we’ll let you play with us.  The young ones would do anything, so they did.  Unfortunately the plants were False Hellebore, which when young are deadly, they were young spring plants.  One of the park rangers (Dave Panabaker) just happened to be driving by and stopped to talk and see what was going on.  Realizing what had just happened; he rushed the three tots away towards the twins’ home and gave each of the boys some Essence of Ipecac to get them to throw up.  Leaving the twin boys to their mother he rushed to our house with our son and the news.  We called the hospital, about 60 miles away.  Their response was, get them to throw up or if they don’t, rush them down here, “BUT ITS PROBABLY TOO LATE.”  What a thing to say to an already stressed out mother.  Donna called, the boys just threw up, we rushed Tom to the bathroom and he did also.  Enough weeds to kill a horse.  None had any ill effects from it and from then on left the plant eating to the deer.

Dowsing

Last night as I couldn't sleep, I remembered an interesting story about my work in Acadia NP.  I was there for the summer running odd projects, one being, to replace the dilapidated water line for the park.  At the Jordan pond house, we had to dig through the lawn, somewhere in it lay a high voltage electrical line.  I have always had this kinetic energy about me.  I could never wear a watch, as after a couple of days they all just stopped working.  Even as a youngster as I walked down the streets at night, the street lights would go out and then come back on as I passed.  Probably a mere coincidence but after a while it was disturbing.  One of my friends in the park was a dowser and I asked if I could borrow his rods to locate the buried cable, which he did and showed me how to use them.  I arrived at the site and began walking the path of the new trench to be dug and soon the rods became active and then magically crossed.  I marked the spot and walked away, turned and reversed my travel.  They crossed again at the very same location, so I put out a flag and sprayed orange paint, marking the location.  The next morning, the contractor found the line exactly as marked.  Telling this to my wife who was visiting that weekend, she said I was full of it and she wanted to see for herself, so off we went. I walked the line and bang, the rods crossed right at the buried cable.  She said " I don't believe it, you must be manipulating it somehow".  I said "you try".  She took the rods and walked the line and nothing happened and she yelled "see".  I said just a minute and with her over the cable with the rods outstretched I came up behind her and with my thumbs and fingers pinched her ears, one in each hand and immediately the rods crossed.  Taking my fingers away, the rods went straight again.  She said "do that again", the same thing happened and she could only say "I can't believe it".  Ah to have the magical power.