Afterthoughts

                                                                           Roy Appling      In the late forties wildcatters came to the West Texas area where my grandfather had a dry weather farm snuggled a mile off US 380 between Tahoka and Post Texas.  The men drilled on several farms nearby but found no oil.      That's when granddad decided to do what he had wanted to do for years, drill for water. They struck one of the best deep water wells around.  From that day on, he no longer had to watch the clouds in  the sky and pray for rain. Each day he got on his red tractor knowing whenever needed he could quench the dry earth.  All he had to do was fill the ditches along the edge of the fields with water.  Once they became full, he walked along the end of each row and scooped a short curved pipe into the cool liquid onto the thirsty land. Slowly it darkened the dirt around each plant as it became saturated.     With time a sea of green leaves filled the landscape be