THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 23, 1994 TAG: 9407230232
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Guy Friddell
LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines
From Sarah Davis in Murfreesboro comes word of how her redoubtable mother, 84, saves rainwater, ``along with everything else, whether in time of drought or not.''
Her mother, Sarah Winborn of Tennessee, is among those who lived through the Great Depression ``and, therefore, knows how to survive,'' her daughter notes.
``Nothing is used only once that can possibly be used again.''
That includes the water for houseplants that has been first used to wash produce.
``Tomato seeds from such water would fall into the plants, take root and, as she matter-of-factly once told me, Mother's earliest tomato plants each year would be taken from the houseplants for transplanting outside.
``What I most remember about the story was her amazement at my amazement,'' Sarah Davis recalls.
Seeds grew easily for her parents. ``I even recall an apple tree growing from a core my father threw into the yard because he finished the apple as he was about to enter the back door.''
Several years ago when her mother was about to undergo surgery at a hospital in a neighboring county, a staff physician, a stranger to her, seeking her medical history, began by inquiring if she considered herself to be healthy.
She responded yes, and he was astonished as she replied again in the affirmative when questioned about having had a number of diseases.
``Finally, with some exasperation, he informed her, `Mrs. Winborn, I didn't ask if you considered yourself to be; I asked if you considered yourself to be healthy.'
``Her even more exasperated response was that she must be healthy if she had lived through all she had. He had no further comment.''
People who can grow tomatoes from saved water have the ingenuity to do wonders not just in conserving water but in conserving the planet, Sarah Davis observes.
``They can teach us not simply to survive (to be) but the art of survival (to be healthy). And yet, I know Mother would say she was only doing what she needed to do.
``Having had to draw water from a well, she wasn't about to waste any of it, even after she no longer had to draw water from a well.
``I often think we might conserve the planet if we would think of ourselves as bridging the generations - ask ourselves how our grandparents did something and how our grandchildren may have to do it. Somewhere in between, the how-it-should-be-done answer lies.''
Sarah Davis' husband, John, a professor at Chowan College, is an authority on Mark Twain.
Sarah teaches basic composition at Chowan, where she also directs the writing lab and teaches additional sections of freshman composition as needed. She also teaches composition at Paul D. Camp Community College in Franklin and at Roanoke-Chowan Community College as well as at Odom Correctional Facility near Jackson.
``I teach everywhere,'' she said Friday, laughing.
And she writes superbly. by CNB