Healing Waters, Old Feet and Choice Words

Every week I write this column and an editorial.  The reason I do is because if I don’t get some of the words out of my head it might explode. There is also the issue of not having blank space in a newspaper.  Besides, I am the cheapest person here both in my personal habits and my remuneration.  If it has to be done I want it done the cheapest way. Imagine my surprise when I found out there are actually people who read what I write.

That’s pretty upsetting. I’m going to have to be more careful.

The stories in this column are true. Averett lives a dull life in rural Southside Virginia with his wife Management, two children and a rotating assortment of goats, dogs, cats, snakes and other local fauna.

There are apparently lots of you out there of about my own youthful age. You just wouldn’t believe the number of calls I had regarding the Editorial I wrote on the things we did as pre-teens. One reader from Farmville said he checked off my list and everything I mentioned he had done.  Unlike me he is a successful businessman and a leader in the community. I wonder what happened to me.

In any case it might be fun if other folks my age send me emails of similar things kids my age were allowed to do and actually survived.  Send them to Averett@southsidemessenger.com. If I get enough of them I’ll include them sometime.

Today a guy asked me where I’d gotten my new shoes. Since I was barefoot at the time I told him I’d had them for almost sixty years and that I’d never had a complaint with them. He wanted to know if I could find him a pair just like them but in size 8 ½.  I told him that everyone who had a size 8 ½ wanted to keep them and he would have to build his own.

Another guy my age who had also had the same youthful experience of always going barefoot told me his evaluation of barefooting was just the opposite of mine.  While I prefer it, and maybe it reminds me of when life was simpler, his take was negative.  He said, “Just as soon as I could afford to buy shoes, I bought my own and I’ll never go barefoot again.” Isn’t it interesting how the same experience affects us differently?

This week I am working on a story about a swimming pool that is doing something strange. The water moves without any apparent cause. The only reference I can find for this is in the Bible where Jesus heals a cripple by the pool at Bethesda. According to the biblical story when the water in the pool moved anyone who jumped in was healed from whatever afflicted them.

By the way, I’m pretty sure this wasn’t in Bethesda, Maryland and was another Bethesda. In any case, since inquiring minds want to know, I’m planning on jumping in this pool the next time it is active. I need to know if the bottom is moving or if something else is going on.

My co-workers oppose this experiment. At first I thought they were concerned that I would be injured or sucked into another dimension. As it turned out they were concerned that it is like the Biblical pool and I’ll be healed from everything that is wrong with me.  “Boss,” they said, “if you jump in that pool you might come out normal.”

If you see me next week and I’m wearing shoes you’ll know what happened.