Today is March 22nd. I have a couple of stories and books to a acquaint you with. The first book is “Elephants on the Beach” Signed by Irene Brady, 1979. International Seal Day is today.
A few years back, my cousin took me to Año Nuevo state park in California. It was still dark when we began our trip. As we got closer to the park, we could look at beaches from the road. We saw a dead elephant seal washed up on the shore, thinking that we may stop in a little later to see it. We got to the park, and had a docent take us to see a beach that thousands of elephant seals come to give birth and mate. After a 1 1/2 mile walk, we got close to the beach. We could hear, but not see this loud thunderous trumpeting and bellowing.
Then we climbed over a large sand dune, and looked down on the beach. There they were, covering the beach. Huge males, that weighed up to 2 1/2 tons. Surrounding some of them, were their harems, smaller females 1200 to 2000 pounds. Here and there, we could see a smaller seal that was just born. The scene was unreal, so noisy and all the animals just flopping around in their little groups. It was like we were pulled right into a scene from National Geographic.
After watching for a while, we made our way back to the car, wanting to take a look at the dead seal on a beach seen earlier. As we pulled into that beach, we saw the seal on the ground, and a hippy dude nearby, cross-legged and meditating. I slowly walked up the seal, he just looked like a giant blob, a big as a car, in the sand. It was not moving or even breathing.
But as I reached out to touch him on the head, his eyelid opened. He was staring at me! With an eyeball as big as a tangerine! Now, Michael Jackson could moonwalk pretty well, but he could not moonrun like I did that morning. That elephant seal scared me pretty good. As I then stood about 15 yards away, the hippy dude looked at me and said “coulda told he was just sleeping, man.” My cousin just fell on the ground laughing.
We now move to National Hydration Day, and World Water Day today. Both tell us about the importance of having clean fresh water. In many places of the world, it is difficult to find water.
I found this wonderful book, rather it found me when shopping a bookstore. It called to me. “The Divining Rod, Its History, Truthfulness and Practical Utility” by John Mullins and Sons, 1927. This book is a testimonial book of people that have had wells found by John Mullins & Sons Waterworks Engineers. They explain why they can help find fresh water all over England. There is a letter inside, from the company, stating that they are sending the book as requested, and look forward to delivering a bid on a successful water-well finding.
I was more intrigued than ever about divining or dowsing, so I began looking for more books. I found two. “Henry Gross and His Dowsing Rod” by Kenneth Roberts, 1951. This is a biography of a man who found water all along the east coast, and even was the first man to find fresh water in Bermuda. The second book “The Divining Rod” by Sir William Barrett and Theodore Besterman, 1926, is a complete history of water finding throughout the ages.
It is important to have clean drinking water. I have two reasons to not drink toilet water. Number one… and number two…
How do you know if an ant is a boy or girl? If you toss it in the water and it sinks, it’s a girl. If it floats, its a buoyant.
Did you hear the joke about three holes in the ground? Well, well, well.
Thanks for reading.
Librarytomes 