Mostly Malarkey: From algae to zymurgy
Marion County's problem with algae has caused many old timers to snicker while the younger folk reach for bottled water in frenzy. The old folks realize there are two kinds of water problems, too little (drought) or too much (flood). Either it's a crop failure or washing away with motor boats running in the streets. Water problems are nothing new in our county.
Rip Snorter recalls the days of his youth when folks would "shake hands with Iron Mike" (pump the well) to get a pail of water and carry it to the kitchen for all to use.
At school they had a well with one drinking cup, but some of the lace underwear crowd carried individual drinking cups. They were collapsible, telescoping within themselves. Those of us who drank from the dipper didn't covet the collapsible cup carriers, we derided them as sissys.
During the "big war" as WWII vets are prone to call it, every soldier had an aluminum canteen which was nestled in a steel cup. That's a bad combination as aluminum is now frowned on and steel can burn your lips.
Soldiers also carried Halogen tablets which were used to purify the water. They'd scrape the algae off a pool of water (if no running stream was near), fill their canteen and drop in a Halogen tablet. A couple of shakes and it was "purified." Not a single solder died from that process. Lead bullets were more dangerous.
Zymurgy is a branch of chemistry we failed to study in school, though Grandpa unknowingly used it to ferment his batch of home brew.
But here we are, in another century where his great-great-grandson is a chemist and everything is controlled. There's no laissez-faire policy today. Instead of every man for himself, we have an "every man help me" philosophy.
Marion is fortunate in having a back-up source of water, though the Luta Creek stuff doesn't compare in taste with what comes from the Reservoir.
Time will wash away the problem. It'll go down the drain. Grandpa had a horror of raw water, never touched it. Water wasn't made to drink, he said, only for washing your feet. And he did that monthly. His daily drink was clear deep shaft booze with a beer chaser. He lived nearly forever without knowing what his cholesterol level or blood pressure might be. The old man died in a hospital from a sore back. A nurse gave him an alcohol back rub and the old man broke his neck trying to lick it off.
— BILL MEYER
