Happy birthday to wife Helen. Sunday marks her - well, the anniversary of the day she was born.
So, Helen, happy birthday. And are you going to bake a cake so we can celebrate? And make punch? You know how I really like your homemade punch.
Helen knows I only tease people I really like, so again, happy birthday, Helen.

As I said, I really like that punch, and almost any other liquid that doesn't hinder my ability to handle it safely.

Now if drinking lots of liquid was a sure way to stay healthy, and for certain it helps, I would be running marathons. Consuming liquids begins early in the day for me, with one cup of coffee or hot tea. There's just something about a hot drink that paves the way for a better day. Even a boiling cup of plain water will do the same. I learned that from my paternal grandfather, Dad Taylor, via my Dad who remembers the long-ago days of the depression when at times coffee was an unaffordable luxury.

As for running marathons, that can never be because these days a walk of a few yards nearly puts me out of commission.

After that early morning drink you will usually find some kind of liquid on my desk, in my automobile or in my hand. It may be a soft drink that brings a call of "Yahoo," a glass of iced tea, juice or simply water. And with meals there is nothing better than an affirmative reply to "got milk?"

Of all those, the most likely liquid candidate to be in my possession is water, plain and over ice. Over the years my drinking water has come from springs, wells, cisterns and municipal water systems. Hey, Tellico Lake water is pretty good. And it's a bargain, much cheaper than the small bottle that cost me $5 at Turner Field in Atlanta a few years ago. It might be $10 now. And it's bound to be more economical than the partial filled bottle granddaughter Brittany left on my desk this morning.
The bottle read, "natural spring water, contents: pure quality" and "100 percent natural spring water." Two springs are listed on the bottle as the source for the water and one thing's for sure, I would like to own a spring that puts out water like that.

Now water is a common thing. It makes up from 55 to 78 percent of our bodies and though there are many dry places, water covers about 70 percent of the earth's surface.

Still, I really would like to own those two springs. Why? What makes them unique?  Because the "natural, pure quality, 100 percent spring water" in Brittany's bottle was red! All natural red water? Yep, and it tasted like strawberries. And there were no other ingredients listed anywhere on that bottle.
Like I said, I sure would like to own those springs. For if that red water is as pure as it claims those springs have got to be a gold mine.

Now I know that's a lot of nonsense. And while I don't know the cost of this particular brand, it's gotta be high if for no other reason than it is shipped from Florida by a Connecticut company under a permit from New York. Nothing green about that red water.

But whatever Brittany paid is OK. For surely she is following the fine example of our Tennessee Legislature that spent more than $17,000 dollars on bottled water in 2009.

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