My wife has a friend who\u00a0tells this amazing story. If I was not there and had not heard it with my own ears, I would have doubted the veracity of this tale. But I swear to you, this is how he told the tale.<\/p>\n
This fellow, we\u2019ll call him \u201cDale,\u201d had an antique outboard motor for sale. He put the ad on Ebay and pretty soon, he had a buyer for the motor. Discussing the transaction with the potential buyer who was from Iowa, Dale said he would put the engine on a boat and run it around to make certain it was ready to operate when delivered.<\/p>\n
The guy from Iowa, we\u2019ll call him \u201cJack,\u201d said all of that was not necessary. Dale said he would package the engine and freight it on to Iowa. Jack said, \u201cNo need, my wife and I have never seen the ocean and always wanted to visit Florida. This will be the perfect excuse to drive down.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay,\u201d Dale said. \u201cI will go ahead and put it on a boat to run so that when you arrive, you can at least see it run.\u201d<\/p>\n
The couple finally arrives from Iowa and Dale and his wife accompany them to the marina where the motor is still mounted on a skiff. They run it around the harbor and the man from Iowa is pleased. He had been looking for this particular model of outboard engine for quite some time.<\/p>\n
As they motor back to the dock, Jack looks at the pilings and notices the high tide mark. As it was low tide, there was quite a distance between the high tide mark and the water. To this, Jack says, \u201cIt looks like you are in a pretty serious drought down here in Florida.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNaw, not really,\u201d Dale replied.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you mean? Look at that mark where the water used to be,\u201d said Jack.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat?\u201d Dale responded while looking at the high tide mark. \u201cThat\u2019s just the tide.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTide? What\u2019s that?\u201d Jack asked.<\/p>\n
Dale stopped and looked it Jack. \u201cYou don\u2019t know what the tide is?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNever heard of it before,\u201d Jack said, shaking his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re kidding me,\u201d Dale answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is a tide?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a rising and falling of the water. Happens every day, a couple of times a day.\u201d<\/p>\n
To this, Jack looked Dale square in the eyes and exclaims, \u201cNo! You don\u2019t say!\u201d<\/p>\n
By now, they were back ashore and Jack had explained to his wife this phenomenon of the tide. She looked over the pier and also witnessed the high tide mark and she asked more about it. \u201cWhat causes it to go up and down so often?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe moon,\u201d Dale\u2019s wife explained.<\/p>\n
Jack and his wife looked at each other with somewhat disbelieving looks. There was probably a moment of private telepathic communication between the two.<\/p>\n
Then Jack said, \u201cLook, we may be from Iowa, but we weren\u2019t born yesterday. How can the moon possibly make the water go up and down like that?\u201d<\/p>\n
There was a quick exchange of money, the outboard motor carefully packaged into the back of their pickup truck. Then the people from Iowa decided they had had enough of Florida and those crazy Floridians who believed the moon could move water.<\/p>\n
They were quickly on their way back to Iowa where the moon left the water alone.<\/p>\n
-30-<\/p>\n
\u00a9 2010 J. Clark<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" My wife has a friend who\u00a0tells this amazing story. If I was not there and had not heard it with my own ears, I would have doubted the veracity of this tale. But I swear to you, this is how … Continue reading