Well

That word, well, is Gene's signature word with my family.  He uses the word as a beginning of a sentence.  He holds it a while.  He is really composing his thoughts during this time.  Anytime Gene would say well in front of his mom she invariably said, "deep subject, dig it up and make post holes out of it."

Janice at well in AZ, 1953

I have been scanning pictures of long ago, 1940' & 1950's, so I thought I would share a few of the "wells'.  Some were deep enough to reach the underground streams, others were little more than underground cisterns.

Pawpaw Rogers and his cousin almost died at the bottom of a well they were cleaning.  Men would lower themselves into the well to clean out the sediments.  Seems as though there were noxious gases that collected in the brick lined wells along with silt from the rains.

Pawpaw and one of Daddy's uncles were overcome by the gases.  Fortunately someone found them before either died.  Pawpaw's lungs were damaged causing him problems the rest of his shortened life.

The galvanized cisterns were supplemental water for our families "back then".  Rainwater off our house was caught in gutters that ran into the galvanized cistern.  Later in the summer as the underground wells would dry up, the galvanized cistern would be used or drained into the underground storage.  It was the sweetest water and just great for washing hair.

Momma loved Jackie Baldwin cause he always kept the water drawn for her when he and Margaret would come home.  Yes, lots of buckets of water were drawn from those wells.  Sweet, cool water used for drinking, making iced tea, washing cloths and taking our weekly baths.  You really appreciated the water when it required more than just turning a knob.

All this talk about water has made me thirsty.  I am sure the sanitized, easily obtained glass of "city" water will quench my thirst.  But bet it will not satisfy my longing for some good water from the well.