Memories are such amazing things to me. Many times an event or experience will trigger a memory and a mental light bulb will go off. Such is the case with my first encounter with “adult water”
Special Announcement: Before I begin I wanted to let you know that my book “Lesson From An Ordinary Life/Childhood Volume 1” will soon be published, so keep watch for that post announcing its release. 🙂
Adult Water
(Part 2 – Revenuers)
I was around ten. It was that time of year when all my mom’s family would gather at my grandmother’s farm. The farm was at the foothills of the mountains.
Every so often there would be a black car that would pass the farmhouse continuing up into the mountains. In a short while we’d hear booming sounds. Then the car would come by the house, somtimes with a few more people in it. My grandparents didn’t seem to pay much attention to it; nor did the rest of us. It was just part of everyday life in the country.
My grandparent’s farm was large, full of stuff for kids to get into. My grandfather wasn’t always as enthusiastic about our explorations. It was a blast with a passel of my cousins all running round in a herd all over the farm. My cousin and I soon tired of the others. We went in search of better entertainment.
In the back of the house just outside the kitchen porch was a small fishpond. My grandmother loved her fish and babied them so. They were large goldfish that would come to the surface to feed. In our casting around for something to do, we thought about playing in that fishpond for a bit.
Off we went, but when we came around the side of the house there was grandpa, our dads, uncles and some other adult men standing around the pond, talking, appearing to be having a good time. My cousin and I sat down on a bench to eavesdrop on the conversation and watch the entire goings on.
Our dads seemed to be in very high spirits right along with the other adult men. We couldn’t hear all that they were saying, but we did overhear a few comments about their wives and our moms not catching them doing something. Our curiosity was peeked. We watch them get more and more animated as they were passing around a mason jar of water. The longer we watched the funnier they got. My curiosity got the best of me, so I went up to my dad and asked if I could have some of that water. He laughed really loud as did all the other men and said no that it was “adult water” only. It made no sense to me. If it was water, why couldn’t I have any? We went back to our perch and watched in amusement as our dads and the other men grew more animated.
By this time, my cousin and I were bored with the whole thing. We went to the kitchen to grab a cookie or two. Grandma, our Moms, and Aunts were busy cooking and talking. Grandma asked us how it was going and if we were having a good time. I shrugged my shoulder said “Ok.” Then I asked the magic question; “Grandma, what is adult water? Dad wouldn’t let me have any.” All eyes were on my cousin and I; “What do you mean?” asked my grandmother? I said: “You know, the water that makes adults happy”. All the women glanced at each other and headed for the fishpond. My cousin and I followed. When our dads, grandpa, and uncles saw their wives approach it was as if a fire had been light under their feet. Poof, they were gone, only a gallon jug and the mason jar of “adult water” remained.
That was when I discovered what moonshine was. I learned that Grandpa had acquired the Moonshine from one of the guys who passed the house in a beat-up truck to attend to his still in the mountains.
I was able to connect the dots from the one room schoolhouse to the fishpond and adult water. In listening to the conversations that followed, I finally learned what revenuers were, that they would go up into the mountains to find the stills, blow them up, thus the booming sounds and apprehend the ones who were making the moonshine.
I still chuckle at the memory of dad, granddad and my uncles running from the pond. I’m sure the headache that accompanied their partaking in the “adult water” the next morning wasn’t quite as much fun.
What did I learn for this? If you wait long enough, an answer will reveal itself, and you will then be able to connect the dots. The funnier lesson was why all things (legal that is) should be taken in moderation.
Do you have fun memories like this? What did you learn from them? How long did it take you to connect the dots?
Life’s journey continues…
If you liked The Revenuers, check out No One Was Watching, Perceptions and Chickenpox and Answer To A Prayer.
PS: What are some of your favorite stories? If you would like to write a guest post about an experience, we would love to hear from you.
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