At the pump

Seeing my brother at this water pump at a living history museum reminded me of our grandparents’ house. Even though they were hooked to city water inside, they still retained their old water pump outside.

My brother, cousins and I loved that water pump. Something about pumping the water out of the ground made it taste better. I don’t know that water actually tasted better from that source, but we thought it did. And pumping the handle was such fun, especially since our efforts were rewarded with cold water.

Our grandparents lost their house to a tornado and the water pump was one of the casualties of their rebuilding. The new house was always strange to me. The delights of my childhood had been removed. Even though the house was on the same lot as the old one, Grandpa and Grandma lived in an alien place.