Pure Water

I am not given to stump speeches. A man who stands on a stump just makes himself a target for whatever anyone wants to toss at him. I realize that my opinions are just that, and that opinions are like bad colds. Everyone has their own from time to time and no one wants yours. But… my friend Connie Perry got me thinking. And now I have said all that to say this… we are ruining our planet. I think I am safe in saying that this is not an opinion but a sad and unfortunate scientific fact.

I have told my boys (grandsons) about the days when a man could stop at a bubbling stream, cup his hand and slake his thirst with the cool clear water provided from the rock beds in the hills. I’ve told how wells provided some of the best drinking water for man and beast. How you could eat all the fish you wanted from rivers, streams and farm ponds. I used to go down to the creek and carry buckets of sweet tasting water to my grandparents before indoor plumbing was available there. Acid and rain were never in the same sentence unless it was in a rock song. When I hunted as a boy I never took water for me or a horse. There were plenty of pure places to hydrate. Today, however, in much of America those days are gone.

Run-off chemicals from agribusiness and industry have so polluted our water sources that in our area drinking from a well or creek is dangerous. The Department of Natural Resources tell us to not eat fish from the rivers more than once a week because of hazardous chemical levels. Our polluted land is in trouble. We need help… and I know just who can save us.

We have some of the most educated and talented youth in this country ever to march the halls of higher education. Full of energy and enthusiasm. If educators can help today's’ students understand the desperate need for environmental specialists, folks who can put agri-science to work for us without it working against us, if land and stream becomes more important to them than dollars and cents, if a cup of cold mountain water taste better than champagne to some of them, then, and perhaps only then, will Earth regain its purity.

If we can tell our kids and grandkids how it used to be, how it ought to be, maybe a few of them will grab that steer by the horns someday and rope the problem into submission. Every generation brings change. Maybe a new group of young folks will bring health back to our soil and streams. I believe Mother Earth is counting on them. I know I am.

If this came out soundin’ like a stump speech I apologize. Won’t let it happen again. And now if you’ll excuse me, I need a drink of water. From a bottle no less. Who would have ever thought it.