Follow up to the tree that leaks water

Cary Clack, a local newspaper columnist, wrote about Lucille Pope's amazing tree that spouts water from its trunk. He wonders:

So what makes a tree decide to impersonate a water fountain? What makes a tree decide that after 100 years of existence, it's going to mess with people, boggle their minds, have a little fun and, like Bonnie Raitt, give them something to talk about?

Damned if anybody knows. ...

My own scientific tests, beyond tasting the water, included making sure there wasn't a leprechaun inside of the tree with a water hose and invoking the name of TV prankster Allen Funt to see if we weren't on "Candid Camera."

Both tests proved negative.

Neither Davis' story on Friday nor this column has the address of the Popes' house. To print it would be to invite a pilgrimage to their residence that neither they nor their neighbors may want.

The reasons for The Leaking Tree may be mystical or scientific.

It's still the damnedest thing I've ever seen.

Odd enough, to be sure. But, why -- until they are sure of the source -- are they drinking the water?