Clearing the Drains

Having grown up in Minerva Park, I have many memories of days filled with beech trees, white squirrels, and neighborhood streets.

I remember one particular day, playing in the rain soaked street, pant legs drenched in muddy water. My best friend and I were splashing about in the puddles, having some now old-fashioned childhood fun, when a man who seemed far too aged to brave the weather descended into the street.

He precariously bent down to the drain cover that sewed his lawn and the street and began to clear the debris that had accumulated since the last rain. When he crossed the street and continued to clear the one on the corner en face his lot, my friend and I had grown curious. Why was this man, fatigued by the act of even bending over, coming out in a rain storm to clear the drains? Couldn't it wait? So, as young children often do, we asked.

"I'm going to take a bath" he said, as though we six-year-olds understood hydraulics. We agreed, "Ohhhh", looked at each other with a puzzled expression, and helped him clear the drains.

This particular man, forgive me because I don't clearly remember his name, astounded his neighbors. He was still driving in his 90s, and sometimes you'd have to look twice to see if there were actually a man behind the wheel, but sure enough he was there.
He lived a long life in his house on Wildwood Road, but eventually, after he'd reached the 100 mark, he retired to an assisted living facility and I believe soon passed.

I'd like to think that my friend and I faithfully cleared the drains in the rain storms after that, but I know faithfully is a questionable choice of words. We would, occasionally, but when we did we certainly thought of him.

Though now I'll admit I don't clear the drains that often, whenever I see debris building up on them, I think of him. And whenever I see a little pile of sticks, leaves, and acorn shells on top of a drain cover, I think of him and those days playing as a child in the puddles on Wildwood.

Now as an adult, I still wonder if clearing those drains has anything to do with his household plumbing, but for the sake of that old man, I'll believe it until I need to know otherwise.