Just Add Water

Too much of anything is bad for you and gets tiresome – or so I’ve been told. It seems that we have had more than enough rain this summer; there have been reports of flash flooding and rumors of giant mosquitos.  I haven’t watered the garden in weeks; it hasn’t needed it. The frequent watering has pushed the rain gauge and soil past its limits.

But when the garden is dry I will use a sprinkler instead of a watering can (too many trips). I have used the rotating-spitting kind that has stirred some people to dance in homage to its rhythmical pattern. I also have a donut-shaped one with small holes around the outside that is good for about a twenty-foot span. There’s a soaker hose lazing around inside the garden shed that hasn’t seen much action. It’s hard to get excited about a soaker hose - it just lies there and leaks. I can’t tell if it’s working or broken.

One model that usually gets the job done is the traditional oscillating one.

Its sweeping, back and forth pattern is an old standard – predictable and mesmerizing. It’s good for running through as well.

An even older style is one that travels along while straddling a hose. The rotating head sprays water as it turns a series of gears and the drive wheels. It races through the yard at speeds so slow that snails and slugs take their time getting out of its way. Many of these models look like an old steel-wheeled steam engine.

Last week I became the happy owner of one made by The F.D. Kees Manufacturing Company out of Beatrice, Nebraska. The Model 101 was manufactured in the years 1958 and 1959. This particular sprinkler and I go way back, and we have much in common: We are the same age, we move about the same speed, we have noticeable signs of wear, we spit and sputter, and we resided in the same neighborhood when I was a kid.

We lived across the street from a fine family – four girls and a boy. Julie and I were the same age and often played together. Back then running through the sprinkler on a hot day in the summer was as common as drinking ice-cube cooled Kool-aid.

Julie’s dad owned this sprinkler, and it was passed down to the eldest child, much like a birthright. Julie’s brother most likely soaked his children and their friends for decades as he watered his lawn.

As is often the case, tools and toys are set aside forgotten and ignored. After awhile an inventory is conducted and the surplus is put up for sale and bartered away. Fortunately for me, I have Andy, a friend who has an eye for treasure.

In his on-going quest for the rare and unique, Andy came across this tractor, learned the history and offered it to me, because he knew I would like it. For now I have given it a place of honor, as one does for an old friend, and soon I will find a comfortable home for it in the garden shed.

Someday, maybe next year when the summer sun is high in the sky, I will take it out and run through its spray, remembering the simpler times of days gone by. It’s hard to imagine that could ever get old.