day.....out!.....420

 We actually went out today

    It was a fairly busy day.

    First, I dropped off 7 years of tax returns at the shred day our bank was holding.  I cleared out all returns up to 2014.....along with some other stuff that we did not want to put in the trash.

    Then we went to the museum for the annual opening of the fountain.  

    Over 100 years ago a woman named Laura Fessler bought an 800 pound cast iron drinking fountain for the city.  At one time it was in the center of downtown, then was moved to outside city hall, then it went in storage, and eventually it came to the museum.

    It's a strange deal.  There are water pipes that get turned off and he fountain winterized.  The pipes get turned on in the spring, someone goes down into a pit and turns a handle, someone goes into the museum basement and flips a crank and voila!  Water.

    But it is a special fountain.  Yes, it's age and history are interesting, but the design is also quite neat.  There is a bubbler for humans.  The fountain is designed to run constantly.  Water not drunk by humans drops into a large basin about hip high so horses could get a drink.  That unconsumed water drops down to two basins on the bottom for dogs, cats or even goats!  There is also a small spot for birds to quench their thirst.

    We do a fountain opening each year in early May, except for last year when it was not opened due to Covid.

    This year we had a nice crowd that included a horse, two goats, a dog and people.

    Of course there were refreshments, including carrots for the horse, puppy chow, bird seed brownies and muffins.

    It was nice to get out among other people.

    Then we went to DeKalb to pick up some stuff I was supposed to get Thursday.  At 1 a.m. today Jackie said to a Terry in the middle of a dead sleep, "You forgot to stop and pick up my package."

    Thus a drive to DeKalb.

    The only downer was the wind.  I could not go outside to finish cleaning the chairs because there was so much dust in the wind (not an intentional Kansas reference, but it works) and I don't think the chairs would have stayed in place. 

    So, that gets pushed to tomorrow, putting me two days behind.  And I did look for Wet it and Forget It, but our local hardware store only had concentrate.  It was a half gallon container and I would use one ounce to five ounces of water.  I  think I would have had enough for a lifetime, so I passed on the purchase.

Hope your day was pleasant. 

Stay safe.  Stay healthy.  Happy May Day!!

Peace and Love

Laura Fessler appeared to give us the history of the fountain.

Somebody has to get down into the pit.

You can lead a horse to water and make him drink!