June 2012 Articles

Archives by Months

Just Rambling, June 2012

Just Rambling:
As I enter the foyer to our church auditorium I am in the habit of always getting a cool drink of water from the little water fountain as you walk in the door. Our church building was constructed when I was fourteen so that makes it forty seven years old and I really don’t remember how many years this little water foundation has been in place but it has been there for many, many years. The water from this fountain is always the best—cool and refreshing. On a Sunday in early May of this year as I entered the foyer I stopped, as usual, to get my refreshing drink of water. To my surprise there was no water—no cool drink of water that I always look forward to. I then proceeded to enter the church auditorium and as I did I was told the water fountain needed some repair work. This lasted for two weeks. The little fountain has now been repaired and is providing cool, refreshing water again. I know this water fountain is a simple machine that needed repairs or could be replaced by a new one—it doesn’t provide the water it just cools it. This little incident put me to thinking of how I am in a habit of expecting water to always be there—how we all are in a habit of taking our water for granted, expecting it always to be available. What if Mother Nature’s water fountain were to fail? Where would we be? What would we do? We say it can’t happen—it can if we don’t conserve and protect our ground water. The Sparta Aquifer serves all or a portion of 16 parishes in North Central Louisiana and several counties in South Arkansas. At present this Aquifer is replenishing itself at the rate of 52 million gallons a day, however the water usage is 72 million gallons a day. This trend can’t continue—the Sparta can’t survive based on these figures. The Sparta Aquifer Groundwater Commissions in both Louisiana and Arkansas are taking steps to help solve this problem but they can’t do it alone. Each individual must help along with industry, agriculture, municipalities, and other governing bodies. This is not someone else’s problem—it is all our problem and it is not just with the Sparta in Louisianan and Arkansas. Recent articles in major publication addresses this water problem we face throughout our nation. American Farm Bureau says water that is “colorless, odorless and tasteless” doesn’t happen by accident. It requires good stewardship, and that’s a responsibility we all share before it reaches the faucet. We must not only protect the supply of our water but we must also protect it’s quality. At a Food Safety Conference in Baton Rouge earlier this year, Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry, Dr. Mike Strain, stated that “water is going to be the greatest issue of our time—we’re running out of ground water”. Think about this! It takes water to sustain life—how much longer will we be able to open our faucet and enjoy running water? Do your part –conserve and protect our most precious resource—water. The next time you take a drink of cool, refreshing water think about the little fountain that needed repair to continue to provide the cool, refreshing water that I enjoy then think about the fountain of Mother Nature that provides that cool, refreshing water that we all enjoy. Van Bennett

June 5th, 2012 was a great day. This was the day that I heard from my wayward son again. Cody had another two week vacation from school so he decided to travel to Luxemburg, Paris, Spain and Portugal—alone. He left on May 24th then called us on May 27th shortly after arriving in Paris. That was the last time we heard from him until yesterday, June 5th. That was nine days not knowing exactly what country he was in and having no way to communicate with him. He arrived back home late Tuesday night (German time which is 7 hours ahead of us) after having been to all of the above countries. He had a great time but was very tired. When he called I told him that I couldn’t wait until he go married and had children then he would know how a parent worries over their children. He laughed which sounded great to his old Dad’s ears. He will write about this trip in our July issue and he will be home by then. He has one more school trip to London then he will be headed home on July 1. I told him I was going to kill the fatted calf when he got home—he laughed again. What a sap his Father is! Van Bennett