nodding donkey.

Josh had never before been to Kansas before I took him there, which is surprising, since surely all American children visit this tourist hotspot at least once. Before we went, he told me that he wanted to be sure to get a picture of a pumpjack (also known as a nodding donkey or a thirsty bird). "Don't worry," I told him. He kept bringing it up, as if I would forget or there weren't more of them than trees in Kansas.

Once we got to the farm, he seemed to be satisfied that we would indeed be able to photograph one, as he finally understood what I meant by saying they were "freakin' everywhere." One evening, at about dusk, we finally snuck off into someone's field and made out took some pictures of a pumpjack.

I remember being fascinated by the things when I was a kid, the way they tirelessly seesaw up and down, up and down, slow and steady wins the race. But I'd never gotten really close to one. It's sort of like going to a natural history museum where they have dinosaur skeletons. It's massive and seems to be part of a different time, an composition of simple machines, not circuits. They are beautiful, in a Kansas sort of way.