Witching

       More Letters From Paradise
               Witching
      Any Canadians reading this blog, please disregard the following question.
      Quick- What is the capital of Canada?  If you answered Ottawa, congratulations.  Most Americans can't answer the question correctly.  The school where I taught was some forty miles across from Canada.  Yet most of my students didn't know the answer.   So I taught a class about the history and culture of Canada.  I obtained, with some difficulty, Canadian text books.   I met with the head of the history department at Assumption High School in Windsor, Ontario.  His name is Reno Bertoya, who  used to play third base the Detroit Tigers.  He and his associates were most helpful.
      What has this to do with witching? you ask.  Well, in one text which was sociological in nature, there was a chapter on witching.  It seems that there are men who are employed by Ontario Hydro who use witching to locate  underground water pipes.  The article went on to describe how to cut a wire coat hanger so that you have a long piece of wire.  Bend it into a right angle about four inches long. If you have followed directions, you should have an L shaped tool.  Then holding the short side loosely in you hands, do not grip, seek the source of water.  If there is water, the long wires will point to the source. Or, you can hold the long part of the wire, and the short part of the wires will move and sometimes cross.  I know this is true, as I have seen it done.  I took my students out onto the football field, and knowing in advance where the pipes were located, some of them could locate the pipes.  But, strangely, not everyone could do it.  Old timers will tell you that some people could use a peach branch in the shape of a Y, and then tell you where to dig a well. The use of a willow branch is often mentioned too. Try it, don't take my word for it.    

           Aloha
           Grant