I found this old water pump out in a field. A long time ago it was used to water animals out on pasture, but it hasn’t been used in a very long time and it’s all boarded up. I must have passed this a thousand times and never really gave it much thought, but today I decided to hike out to it for a closer look. Well, it looked pretty much like old field pumps always look: Rusty and old. I started taking pictures from a couple of different angles for my files. (As you know, I am the keeper of the woods and streams, and it is my job to chronicle the daily events here in the forests of Maine.)
I stopped short after a few photos, though, because I
noticed something I never would have seen from the road. Can you see it off to the right there in the
back? That’s an old
gravestone--absolutely and unmistakably.
I’ve seen plenty of them here in Maine,
as this is an older part of the U.S, and in this state, it is still legal to be
buried on your own property if you so choose.
Of course, back when this grave was first dug, there weren’t laws on
where you could or could not be buried or how it ought to be done anyhow.
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| An old field water pump keeps its secrets. |
Who is it? I have no
idea. I walked around the gravestone
several times, looking for clues. It’s
broken and crumbly at the top, and it has shifted and tilted a lot over the
years as the Earth has moved. All
engravings were washed away by time long ago.
The odd thing is that it’s just one grave. It’s not unusual here in Maine, especially on older farms, to find
gravestones, but usually you find at least two together. Then you know you are looking at a husband
and wife burial, two people who wanted to remain together forever on the land
they loved. Oftentimes, you’ll find a
group of graves together, a sort of family graveyard. Many of these tiny old family graveyards are
still taken care of by the families.
But this grave is all by itself by a very old pump out in a field
where nobody keeps animals anymore. The
pump is not in use and hasn’t been for decades.
So who was this? Why is he (I don’t
know why I think “he” but I do) buried here?
Which came first--the pump or the grave?
I’m thinking the pump because why would someone want to place a water
pump right near a grave? On the other hand, that grave is very old.
My mind gets full of ideas, and this is what I picture. I picture a farmer who loved his land and
loved his animals. I picture a man who
worked the fields hard and made his living farming and raising animals. If you’ve never done it, I can tell you it’s
very hard work because I have done it.
So I picture a hardworking, dedicated person who loved what he did. And when he died, he asked to buried right
there in his field. Alone. He couldn’t have known that the land and area
would change quite a bit from what he knew, but that’s to be expected. The only thing that haunts me is wondering
why he is all alone, but that is a mystery that can’t be solved.
He’s asleep now and all that’s left of who he was is an old
rusty pump and a worn smooth gravestone, tilted and half-buried in the
soil. It seems sad at first glance, but maybe
it’s not so sad after all. He lived his
life, and if he was a farmer as I suspect, it was an honest and decent life,
although not wealthy. Now he rests in
the land he loved, finally at ease. It’s
what I will most likely do myself someday, so I won’t look on this with sadness
but with congratulations for a job well done and a life well lived.
