..which happened to 
be Cleve Martin's
79th birthday!!

I  guess that some folks thought it was a gift from God, and called it "divining." Others, maybe, saw something sinister in it and called it "witching." Either way, my dad had the talent of finding underground water. 

In the 1920s and the dry, dusty 30's--long before the use of modern technology--Cleve Martin, who farmed in southern Jackson County, was often asked by neighbors to use his natural abilities to find much-needed water supplies.

He always used a fresh crotch-branch from one of our peach trees. He was careful to select just the right forked branch. Two ends of the "Y" became handles--it was like holding onto a bicycle's handlebars--and the third end pointed out directly in front of him. Often, he would first use a pocketknife, pulled from his overalls, to carefully strip the bark from pointing end of the stick. 

He would hold the rod firmly in his bare hands and methodically pace back and forth in a scanning pattern. Bark on the handles might twist off in his hands as he crossed water--the stripped pointing end dipping low to the ground, as if drawn by a strong magnet.

Dad wasn't the only farmer who could find water. Often several farmers with the talent would be called together and each would "read" the signs. Then the property owner would have to decide where to dig, based on several recommendations.

When Dad searched, not only did he find water, he could also make a good guess as to how deep it lay below the ground. He made his calculations by somehow reading the pull of the divining rod. 

I was the middle son--one of 7 boys and 2 girls. We loved to watch Dad divine for water.

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