Water,Water, Everywhere!

It was a hot July afternoon in 1954 at our farm in northern Minnesota.  Dad was in town, Mom was taking a nap and our other siblings were nowhere in sight.

We had a well that supplied water to the house, a holding tank in the barn, and a rectangular concrete stock tank.  The tank was large, 8' x 12', and 30" deep, held about 1400 gallons.  When the milk cows were brought in from the pasture each afternoon, they'd beeline it to that tank and drink their fill, leaving about 6" of water in the tank.  We had to make sure the tank was full before the cows came home.

Truthfully, I don't recall.  But, if placed on the witness stand I would have sworn on a stack of bibles, that: he started it.  Yep, the classic, time-tested, I'm-pure-as-the-driven-snow, testimony when a pair of siblings get into trouble.  As it turned out, it was a moot point.

I was 9, Gerry 3 years older.  Did I mention that he started it?  Yeah, okay.  We were standing beside the tank and when I looked away, Gerry cupped his hand, reached down into the tank and splashed cold water at me.  I quickly returned the favor and the conflict escalated rapidly from there.

Fast forward an hour.  The tank is nearly empty.  The entire yard looks like a heavy downpour had just passed through.  Gerry and I, both soaked to the skin, both armed with full pails of water and huge grins, are circling each other like prizefighters maneuvering for a good knockout punch.

And then, disaster struck: Dad pulled into the yard in his pickup.  Gerry and I beat a hasty retreat to the tank, dumped the buckets and tried to look penitent.  Didn't even bother with the innocent look, the evidence of our misdeeds, the water soaked yard, being all too obvious.  To no avail: we both got whacked, no opportunity whatsoever to declare 'he started it.'  Bummer!

Later, Dad recalled the incident with good humor and greatly enjoyed telling the story, said he saw water flying above the garage roof when he turned into the driveway, a quarter mile away.  He may have been exaggerating just a little.  Anyway, that water fight is one of my fondest childhood memories.  Damn, that was great fun!