Chapter 154: Do You Remember When

I remember when Mary Lou said’You want to walk me home from school’
And I said, ‘Yes, I do’
She said, ‘I don’t have to go right home
And I’m the kind that likes to be alone
As long as you would’
I said, ‘Me, too’

And so we took a stroll
Wound up down by the swimmin’ hole
And she said, ‘Do what you want to do’{br}

-Jim Stafford and David Bellamy

A full-on tent in a very nice back yard is what I found out back. That and a load of proud and smiling men who at first glance had every right to be proud. My engineers stood front and center, they had gotten to do their thing at its core level and had done a bang up job. I wanted to see what was inside the tent but was led off on a tour of everything else first.

It’s amazing what an organized group of people can get done in a very short period of time. The grungy, weed pit of a back lot had turned into what I could only call a beer garden. The BBQ’s were already running full tilt and there was goat or lamb on one of the spits, the other looked to have a side of beef roasting.

There was a griddle of sorts and sausages and spring veggies were being cooked there. They had thrown together some long tables as well with benches and random chairs. We had a lot of people there and kids were already eating under the sharp, supervising eyes of the motherly and grandmotherly sorts.

A quick fence had gone up around the entire compound and while not granting privacy it did form a demarcation line. The work of the engineers however was on display at the wellhead and it was the distribution system they had created that was a marvel of DIY ingenuity. The new pump had four times the output and would allow two person operation; two kids were working it now, because, you know – it was new and fun so they all wanted to do it.

There was a swivel output director which let you send the water to either big tub or simply into a bucket, any spill was directed back into the well. It was all engineering stuff but really cool to look at, I understood but couldn’t afford to let myself get caught up in it.

What did matter is that we had cut that barrel in half and gotten two huge tubs to use, one of which was set outside and currently full of frolicking children. There was a small platform next to the tub with an impromptu shower station set up. Since the well pump was higher up the hill, each pump of the well could send a cascade of water to clean or even simply cool with. All of the runoff was directed into a benjo ditch which directed it back down to the river. Excellence in afternoon engineering.

Adult were even stepping in fully clothed just to cool off and clean off from the day’s work. Peter and Sheriff where having a slow, quiet argument behind me about ways to permanently power the pump but I simply ignored them and let them have their fun. The kids were having a grand time in the pool, there was good food and all we needed was music.