2001-06-14 - 23:04 MDT

THE WONDERING JEW

From Afar

Propinquity. In my little Franklin electronic dictionary there are two definitions for the word.

1 -- Kinship.

2 -- Nearness (proximity).

It gripes me that it is not possible to have propinquity in both senses.

My grandson who at almost twelve years of age and had his last day of elementary school today sent me an e-mail telling me that he wanted to build a fountain and wanted to know how pumps work.

From loving kinship I referred him to the encyclopedias in his local library to read up on the principles of pumps - from Archimedes water screw, and on with the appropriate cross sections of the different types of pumps.

Tonight I will do a little searching on the net myself also to see if I can send him a page or two from what is available to me on the net.

But, the word in its second definition - proximity - is not possible at this time. He lives about 1300 miles from us. Which is frustration to the maximum.

Together he and I have built models, made a perpetual motion machine from a project in his Cub Scout book. And done other things with our hands and ingenuity. He is in many ways just as I was at that age, eager to learn how things work, how to make things and make those things run, eager to use his hands to make something that will satisfy him and enable him to show to his folks with the pride of his accomplishment.

This fountain thing could be something that could run indefinitely, which would delight him no end.

Lack of proximity is killing me. I would so like to be at his house to help him with advice. There are factors that would have to be figured in, what size the whole thing would be that he wants. How big the fountain. Just what size and kind of pump he would need to give the rate of flow and pressure needed to operate a five head fountain.

A pump would probably come from a pet shop which has tropical fish and aquariums and equipment for them. There are several sizes of pumps which are used to pump water through the filters, from the small tank size to the fifty gallon tank size.

By working together and brainstorming we could build the durn thing from things bought at model shops and Ace Hardware, once we could find out the things we would have to know.

His Daddy is an academic who is deep in research on facets of economics, whose interests are too different and whose time at home too short to be able to help grandson with things like that. He manages to keep up the yard work, home repairs etc. up but just doesn't have the desire to make things either.

I am sure that if he had the time he would extend himself to help grandson in those things, but I think Dad is a very handy person to have around, as he has helped the boy in sports already and will help more as time goes by. Don't know whether grandson will want to be an economist llike his Dad but I am sure his Dad will help him along the academic trail as the young man grows.

But, whatever he becomes, I purely desire that he will take pleasure in working with his hands too.

But, doggone it, there is not much I can do From Afar . . . . . .

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