Monday, May 11, 2009

Naples has an Abundance of Buckets

Unlike Angelica, Naples is not named for anything very exciting, has no connection to Alexander Hamilton, and in fact has little interesting history to speak of, except possibly for the fact that in 1790 the white settlers told the Seneca they had twenty years to get out. There is no level on which I do not find that baffling.

When I was skimming histories of Naples online (there are a grand total of two), I ran across this paragraph, which I found very disturbing: "While there has not been made any attempt to organize an elaborate fire department in the village, the enterprising citizens have provided a good serviceable engine, hose cart, truck, and an abundance of buckets. This equipment in the hands of interested residents and all working unitedly, has thus far proved equal to any emergency." Then I realized it was written in 1893. And obviously they now have a fire department because they have these all over the place.

Fact I did not know: fire hydrants are painted purple when their water source is non-potable. Same goes for white. These hydrants should not be licked.

There seemed to be a higher than average number of fire hydrants. At first I thought I was just noticing them because they were not yellow. But then I saw this building and it all became clear.
The entire town is waiting for this pile of dry sticks to go up in flames, and they want to be sure they've got enough non-potable water on hand to put it out.

Perhaps to make up for the constant threat of fire, someone at some point had the good sense to plant flowering trees all along the main street, which looks awfully nice:
Fact I did not know: Trees with pink blossoms are not potable.

This is a random view from the parking lot.
I don't know what those buildings are and have nothing to say about them. Maybe it's where they used to keep the abundance of buckets. Either way, my guess is, not potable.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Purple = non-Potable, who knew? Not me. There is always something to learn here, from Sporks to purple hydrants to hyenas (or whatever) in the gravel pit!

Hope the spork survived the latest wilderness adventure - and the tough tofu, too.

Ivan said...

You don't know how hard I was hoping for a few good shots of buckets.