The Peachoid

Here are some facts about this fine water tower in Gaffney, South Carolina.  Photo credit goes to Rachel.  

The leaf on the water tower is an actual living plant.  

There's a small apartment in the base of the water tower that can be rented out as a vacation rental.

The peach tank holds one million gallons of water that is lightly flavored with peach juice.  

If you know of any other facts about this water tower, please share them in the comments. 

The Award

This is the collage I made.

Our roof is leaking.  Our water heater is broken.  We have an ant problem.  But let's focus today on some good news.  

Our school system has revised the re-entry plan.  School is delayed one week and we're going on line.  I'm not going to lie.  I feel safer. I don't like going in rooms with lots of people.  And I also don't like keeping distance from the Thirdlanders when I'm teaching.  I'm more of a "Huddle Up People!" kind of teacher.  And huddling with 21 kiddos equals covid.  That's just plain facts. Maybe.

I feel like I got the hang of teaching on our learning platform in spring, but come to find out, now I can't remember how to set up the pages.  I've watched unhelpful videos and I've felt unhelpful frustration. Eventually, as with the roof and the water heater, there will be fixing and falling into place.

And back to the good news:  Nate Powell, the artist who helped create the March books with John Lewis, lives in Bloomington, Indiana.  I just discovered this fact today from our beloved local rag.  I need to find Nate and talk to him about what he's up to these days. I'm hoping he can share some memories of his time with John Lewis.  I'd also like to get a glimpse of his National Book Award.   If you have Nate's address or phone number, please pass them on to me as soon as possible.

The Freemanville Water Tower

Gloria helped carry her uncle's telescoping ladder to the water tower.  It was midafternoon. Neighbors drove by and waved. Kelly waved back.  She loved this town.  People minded their own business. 

After stretching the ladder to its full length, Kelly began climbing. Gloria held it steady.  When she reached the tower's access ladder, Kelly pulled herself onto the first rung.  She could see the police car in the distance, so she hurried, climbing like the ladder was her natural habitat.   Gloria, hearing the siren, panicked.  She let Uncle Tim's ladder fall to the ground and took off running.  Kelly watched her sprint across the cemetery as the cop car parked below.  She continued climbing.

She was over half way to the catwalk when the cop yelled for her to come down.  Kelly just yelled back, "What?  I can't hear you.  I'm climbing the water tower.  My grandmother assisted with the design of this tower.  It's okay."  

For the next 30 rungs, the cop and Kelly repeated this exchange, him yelling for her to come down, her yelling back that she couldn't hear what he was saying.   In this way, she made it to the catwalk and took a victory lap around the perimeter of the tank. "Freemanville sure looks fine from up here," she mused as she circled her way back to the ladder.   She could see the cop below, leaning against his car.  Was he smoking a cigarette?  

Exhilarated, satisfied, she began her descent. She had climbed her grandmother's tower. She had seized the day. She had honored her unique, adventurous spirit.  

At the end of the access ladder, Kelly paused.  Without Uncle Tim's ladder, she would have at least a 20 foot drop.  She lowered herself and hung from her arms, taking a moment to gather her gumption.  

The cop walked beneath her and held up his taser.  "Don't tase me, Bro," Kelly yelled to him.  

"What?  I can't hear you," the cop replied, calmly blasting the taser upward.  

Handcuffed in the back of the squad car, Kelly looked out the window.  She was amazed that she wasn't more hurt. A broken foot wasn't a big deal.  She'd be fine.  She looked behind her and waved to her parents, following in their miniature van. They weren't smiling, but still, Kelly was grateful that Gloria had alerted them that their daughter might need some assistance over at the water tower. 

The Riders

We watched the John Lewis documentary last night.  Good Trouble.  I just love that title.  This morning I read some articles about the Freedom Riders.  There were only 13 Freedom Riders at first.  John Lewis was one of them.  They got beaten up a bunch of times. They were also thrown in jail. Their bus was bombed.  One of the Riders said that John got hurt many times by white thugs, but that he was incredibly strong and always stayed committed to non-violence.

I'm not sure about my strength.  I've got to work on that.  I want to be like the Freedom Riders.  I want to get into some good trouble this school year along with the new Thirdlanders.

The Family Tree

 I've been fooling around with some ancestry documents that my dad has collected over the years.  I'm trying to fill out a big family tree chart.  The tree is filled with laborers, a sea captain, a director of a minor league baseball team.  There's even a Minuteman on the tree. I think my favorite branch on the tree houses a comb maker.  Combs are helpful and some of the combs of yore were made of the bones of WHALES.  

The Swagger

  We drove throughout the day to get to Georgia to visit with my dad and my sibs.  We counted 40 water towers on our way down here.  There are a few water towers nearby that I'd like to photograph during our stay.  But right now we've got bigger fish to fry. We're on Season 1, Episode 4 of The Shooter.  Bob Lee Swagger knows A LOT about guns and bullets.  He was a sniper in the war and he got pulled out of retirement to help protect our president.  Now he's being accused of a crime he DID NOT commit.  I believe Bob Lee Swagger will figure this whole thing out. 

I truly believe you should watch this excellent show if you feel like it. THE SHOOTER is a fine way to spend a Sunday with your dad or even just by yourself. 

The Game Show

Our town has six water storage tanks.  The two we've visited are multi-column elevated storage tanks.  They're an economical choice if you're in the market for a water tower.  A town called Macon installed one for 630,000 dollars a few years ago.

A company that provides paints for water towers sponsors a calendar competition each year where people vote on the best water towers.  So far, our town's water towers have not been featured in the calendar. I emailed the company last week and a woman named Robin sent me their 2017 calendar.  She no longer had any copies of the 2020 calendar, which, not going to lie, was a bit of a disappointment. Still, the photos are awesome and I'm grateful for Robin's kindness.  Check out this stunning pedesphere elevated storage tank in Michigan.  

Today we drove to Cataract Falls.  On the way we saw a multi-column elevated water tower near Ellettsville.  We pulled over to get some pictures.  There was no clear path to get close to the water tower, which seemed to be located in the back yard of a ranch home.  I donned my mask and knocked on the door to make some inquiries. I retreated six feet from the door as I waited. I could hear the television blaring loudly. After some time, an elder in a housecoat opened the door.  She seemed annoyed.  I inquired about walking in to her back yard to photograph the water tower.  She pulled a pistol from her pocket and said, "Get off my property" in a rude tone.  I was taken aback, but nevertheless, I persisted.  I tried to explain that it wouldn't take me long to get the photos I needed for my project.  She raised the gun higher in the air, but her arms were wobbling all akimbo and I doubted she could have hit me, even at that close range.  Husbandman, on the street, shouted my name. I sensed he wanted me to return to the car and the whole thing was getting to be too much of a hassle anyway, so I walked away from this crotchety old gal with a terse, "Good day, Madam." She slammed the door.  I think she was ticked because she missed out on the end of a game show she was enjoying. Or maybe the pandemic is just getting on her nerves. I wish her no ill will, but I don't understand this level of selfishness. If you have a water tower in your backyard, share your treasure with others.  That's what we plan to do.

The Publishing

I read a NYT piece about racism in the field of publishing a few days ago.  It's a set of 8 intriguing interviews with African American publishing professionals.

You probably know that I'm crazy interested in publishing, so this piece was right up my alley.  Some of the comments about racism took the shine off my publishing apple, and I've been thinking about that.  I wasn't surprised by what I read but I was disheartened by my own choice to overlook some of the truths presented in the article when I was doing my dissertation research.  I don't think I idealized the world of publishing in that book I wrote, but my focus on small presses with social justice goals may have been a way to avoid some hard conversations about disturbing racist practices in the world of publishing.  The piece is fascinating and you should probably read it if you feel like it.

A favorite part of the article for me was literary agent Cerise Fisher's comments about turning down a book because she didn't feel interested in it.  This is my big thing about being a classroom press editor.  I've got to feel some connection to the stories the Thirdlanders are publishing in order to be a good editor for them. Ms. Fisher commented about the book she passed on:

I personally didn’t want to spend the next year in such a dark novel, so I passed. It wasn’t meant for me. Maybe it wouldn’t have had the huge impact it did if I’d edited it, because I didn’t feel it was right for me.

Each interview shares a unique element of the publishing world, from book store owners to senior editors at big publishing houses.  I'm still curious about all things publishing, but now I'm keeping  my eyes peeled for the ways things are and aiming to look at the bigger picture.  And when we head back to Thirdland, I'm going to share some of these tough realities about publishing when we set up our classroom press. 

The Water Tower Shopping

 Do you have problems with water pressure at your home?
You could build a water tower to help with that. FYI: the term standpipe can also be used when discussing water towers.

Husbandman and I have been shopping around for water towers during the pandemic.  This one, over near Riddle Point Park, is a beauty.

The water tower, with the power of gravity, helps water flow through our pipes so we can brush our teeth and take our showers.  In the evening, water is pumped back into the water tower.  Some water towers merely serve to store water in case of emergencies, which is also helpful.

We will need to connect our water tower to an underground reservoir or some type of water supply, which could be tricky.  Sure, there are things that need to be worked out, but we'll get there.  We don't have big problems with water pressure right now, but with this crazy pandemic, anything could happen.  I'd just feel better if we had a water tower in the backyard.