Taylor Studios has completed many exhibits on watersheds.  Two of our current clients, Cleveland MetroParks and Wichita’s WATER Center, have content that is primarily about water.  Often the word watershed comes up in our conversations.  When we are discussing watersheds it is defined as a river basin or the entire geographical area drained by a river and its tributaries.  It is an area characterized by all runoff and some ground water being conveyed to the same outlet.  When I hear the word watershed, I don’t immediately think of tributaries.  The image that instantly pops into my head is of a little shed on my childhood farm where the well head was housed.

This is the farm I grew up on.  I didn’t live here, but my horses did.  Plus we had cattle, sheep, geese, etc.  We often put the steers in the lot in between all these barns.  We fed them well for market.  We had a couple tanks in front of this shed that I helped keep full of water.  The water pump was inside that little shed.  It was an old fashion pump that had been retrofitted with a wood contraption and a motor.  This large wood contraption would move up and down and you would have to avoid it.  In the summer, wasp lived in the little shed.  I would dash in and out very quickly to plug the pump in.

The silo is where we stored silage.  Silage is a smelly, cut up corn mixture.  All winter long I would climb up that silo to scoop truck loads full.  Then you would back the truck up to troughs in the cow lots to fill them shovel by shovel.  In the summer, we would fill the barns with hay.  I loved these old barns.  They had been around when the farm was operated with horses.  There were old stalls with horse names carved into them.  I still have an old yolk I found in one of these barns.  The barns provided a lot climbing territory for a kid.

There were also beautiful pastures that covered acres and acres.  We would have to fix fences all summer long.  I also walked around and sprayed weeds to keep the pastures in good shape.  I knew these pastures like the back of my hand.  I spent hours and hours riding my horses there.

The word watershed brings a flood of images to me.  Do you have a word that triggers memories for you?  As story tellers we have to remember everyone brings their past to the exhibit.  How can we best engage them with these varied pasts?  How can we engage the inner child?

Posted by: Betty