Uncle Ed and the Water Pump

Not every good story is about an ancestor. Some are about people we knew well. This is one of the latter. I think of it whenever I begin to despair about the human race.

In August 1979 Jim and I left New Jersey to move to California. We visited every family member between the two points We took our time, spending six weeks on the road and only spent three nights in motels. At the end, Bill and Karyn welcomed us into their home until we found a place to rent.

Dad Watson went with us to Arkansas and we all spent a week with Aunt Vivian and Uncle Ed. During Labor Day weekend, the five of us went up to Blanchard Springs State Park in Uncle Ed's Oldsmobile. Ed always kept his cars in perfect mechanical condition and immaculately clean. It always upset him when something went wrong.

We toured Blanchard Caverns and headed to a remote area of the park for a picnic lunch. Shortly after Ed drove through a flooded stretch of road when the water pump went out on Ed's car.



We walked back down the road, and had just waded through the stream when we met a ranger. I wish we knew his name, but we don't, so I'll call him Rick. That's him and his truck, with Bill Watson, in the picture on the left.

Ed and Dad told him they had enough tools that they could replace the water pump (meaning, of course, that Jim could replace the water pump under their supervision), if they could only get the part. Rick drove Uncle Ed and Dad to the park office where they could call auto parts store. And he gave them the keys to his personal car so they could drive into town and get the part!




Aunt Vivian, Jim and I amused ourselves by wading in the nearby stream while they were gone. If one has to be stranded, this was a beautiful place to be.


There was one parts store in the small town near the park, and fortunately it had the right water pump. But by the time Uncle Ed reached them on the phone, it was their closing time. The parts guy told Uncle Ed he'd leave the water pump on the porch by the front door.  He should pick it up, then on his way out of town just leave the old pump and the money by the door!

By the time they returned with the new pump it was dusk. Poor Jim did all the work tearing out the old pump and putting in the new one, while Dad and Ed told him what to do. Jim had replaced water pumps several times without supervision, but you would not have known it from the advice he received. Aunt Vivian and I tried to stay out of the way.

Ranger Rick came by to check on us, and to ask if Jim could give him a hand with something. So off they went in Rick's truck. Naturally we were all curious. It turned out Rick needed someone to hold a burlap bag for him while he transferred a live rattlesnake into it. He had a side business of making belts and hat bands out of snake skins.

Rick came back again when his shift was over, and held the flashlight for Jim. He distracted Ed and Bill with conversation, giving Jim the chance to work in peace. The man was a treasure.

Once the pump was installed, we packed up and headed back to Little Rock. Uncle Ed left the water pump and the money by the parts store door, like he said he would. He also wrote a letter to the Park Service about how helpful Rick had been to us.