A GOOD OLD FASHIONED FIRE DEPARTMENT WATER FIGHT

  Lately I have been rudely reminded that I am growing older..Trust me, I DO accept tolerate the usual aches and pains of normal aging.  As my Dad use to say, “Hey, at least I’m still on the right side of the grass”…I must interject here that my Dad ran a cemetery, and he was very aware of the wrong side of the grass…Lately, I find that on our walks I sometimes find a new squeak that needs oiling, or a little “twinge” in a hip or knee…I try to pride myself on NOT being a stumbler, faller or fainter…yet.  But I didn’t count on an extension cord reaching up and grabbing my foot, causing me to do a header in our bedroom a week ago while I went to open a window…And, what do you do when you suddenly see the floor coming swiftly at you??? Why, you reach out to break your fall, of course…My left hand kept my pie hole from being buried in the carpet, but my left shoulder screamed out, “YOU IDIOT!! I THINK YOU BROKE ME!!!!” …and I feared that I really did…

After lying on the floor, assessing the damage and feeling like my shoulder was on fire, I decided to get up and see just how bad this could be…Well, the pain was proof that I did,  indeed,  do some kind of damage…but not sure what kind. I thought maybe I should visit the Valley West Hospital ER so they could Xray it, so away we went..I gotta say that Dennis and I are becoming regular ER “groupies” this last year, what with helping our elders, who have visited there on numerous occasions..Long story short, I didn’t break anything.  But on the follow-up to visit last Friday to our GP, I confessed that my shoulder still hurt like..well, like a 6 on a 1-10 ,(that’s how the docs ask you about pain now).  Dr. Erik suggested that if it is no better by Thursday, I should have an MRI…We shall see… I am NOT a big fan of MRI..When I get in that tube and look at the top only inches from my nose, I feel like an extra in “Buried Alive”….Soooooo… how was your Merry Medical Memorial Day??

Memorial Day in small towns around here usually consist of BarBQ, Beer Tents, a carnival or two, and Fire Dept.Water Fights…Sandwich didn’t have anything going on, their water fights are on July 4th, so Den and I went over to a town about 2 miles from here called Somonauk. ( This should look familiar to fellow blogger Ingrid's hubby, Al. He was raised in Somonauk, and it hasn’t changed much, Al!)  Somonauk ALWAYS has a BBQ feast and water fights for Memorial Day…and this year they did not disappoint..

 

For those who have never experienced an old fashioned fire department water fight, let me give you the skinny on it…Various town fire departments have 5 fire fighters who are on their water fight team..These teams travel in the summer to various celebrations to participate in tournaments, not unlike basketball playoffs.  A regulation bucket is suspended on wire above the street, attached to it so the bucket can slide easily..Each team tries to push that bucket with the water stream coming from the 2 1/2” hoses…The first team to push that bucket and hit the end poles behind each team wins.  Then they switch ends and do it again (sometimes the wind direction can affect this, hence the side change). They  have double eliminations, so a team can fight their way back from a loss..and yesterday there were 16 teams..Yep, this could go on all day long!

Kelly does some water fighting with Oswego Fire Dept on occasion…and Dennis use to do a lot of it when he was on the department in Sandwich..We would grab the kids, diapers, bottles, sunscreen and strollers,making sure to throw some beers and pops in the cooler.  Then we would all jump in the station wagon and spend the summer visiting surrounding town celebrations so Den could water fight…And, I might add that they get some pretty neat trophies for this !!

Nope, doesn’t take much to entertain us small town folk!

 

The guy above was the official who stands in the middle of the street, making sure everyone puts their water streams to meet together on the street pavement.  On his signal, he put his arms in the air, signaling the start of the “fight”.  Keep in mind that these hoses are very hard to control if they get away, and no one wants to get a shot of THAT right in the face, so this guy also can stop the contest if he spots anything seeming dangerous to the crowd of people watching.

Obviously, the apparel had no rules, except the fire coats, helmets and boots. (ME LIKEY THEIR STYLE!)…This gives new meaning to “fly by the seat of your pants”…and there were some real interesting pants on display!!..

Yep, that’s a lady fire fighter on the nozzle….darn good job,too! I AM WOMAN, HEAR ME ROAR!! They do allow you to bring a cooler and a beer or two, as long as everyone behaves. We have been to a gazillion water fights and no one has ever ruined it by getting “stupid”…

Well, if you never got to see what water fights were like in hometown America, you just did. As all of these little towns are growing, I hope this never goes away… Tomorrow evening, MacGyver and I are going to Sugar Grove to see our granddaughter, Taylor, graduate from 8th grade…Seems like just yesterday she was little bitty…and now she is almost 15!!

OK, Now I am making myself a little misty eyed here…Life marches on, right?  I need a little humor from Erma about now…

“Everyone is guilty at one time or another of throwing out questions that beg to be ignored, but mothers seem to have a market on the supply. "Do you want a spanking or do you want to go to bed?" Don't you want to save some of the pizza for your brother?" Wasn't there any change?”

                                                                                                                                                                                                                   ~Erma Bombeck