Wednesday, September 19, 2007, 14:29
Plumber's Helper
I did something Monday afternoon I've never done before: I helped pull a pump out of a well.
My brother and sister-in-law had been out of water since Saturday. The plumber could come Monday afternoon, but he needed someone to help him. My brother has been working the potato harvest, sorting potatoes for a large grower in the area. My sister-in-law babysits for my great nephew, Eli, every day. That left me to help with the pump. The plumber has been in business for 46 years, so that kind of gives you an idea he is not a young man and why he would need some help.
Monday was cloudy and misty. Although the temperature had dropped down to the 20s on Friday, it had warmed up by Monday, and the day was humid and sticky. My sister-in-law was hoping it would not storm, because if it started to lightning, that would be the end of installing a new pump for that day.
It didn't storm. There was a strong, damp wind out of the south/southeast. But no thunderstorms. And only a few sprinkles.
Spraying Water
As it turned out, the bulk of my job as plumber's helper involved wrapping an old plastic feed sack around the joints as the plumber unscrewed them so we wouldn't get sprayed with water. He used an old Bobcat with a hoist on the back to pull the pump. Each section of pipe was about 10 feet long and had to be unscrewed, piece by piece, as it came out of the well casing. Because the pipe above our heads was full of water, of course, when he unscrewed the pipes, they would spray water all over the place.
The pump was over a hundred feet down, so that meant we had lots of sections of pipe to work through before reaching the pump.
Bit by bit, the pipe and the pump came out of the ground.
As I watched, I thought about what a nightmare it would be if the hoist let loose and dropped the pipe back down into the well. How in the world would you ever get a hold of it if the pipe was 50 feet below the surface?
I wanted to ask him if that had ever happened, but I also didn't want to jinx the operation, so I kept my mouth shut.
Down to a system
After a few sections, we had it down to a system. He would get the joint broken loose with two pipe wrenches, and when he could unscrew them by hand, I would wrap the feed bag around the joint and hold it there until the water stopped spraying.
In time, the last section of pipe with the pump at the bottom was suspended over the casing.
Then came the next tricky part -- getting the pump out the rest of the way. The pipe above the pump was heavier than the pump itself, and it took some doing to keep the pipe from swinging violently and throwing the pump high into the air.
I didn't think it would be much fun to be struck by a pump swinging back and forth at the end of a pipe, even though the pump is not a large piece of equipment -- maybe 2 feet long and 8 or 10 inches around.
Eventually, the section of pipe with the pump on the end was lying safely on the ground.
Lunch Break
After that, the plumber wanted to take a lunch break. He must at least be in his 70s if not closer to 80. He's the same person who worked on the plumbing here at our house more than 30 years ago.
While he ate his lunch, Mary Ellen and I went into the house for some coffee and granola bars. Eli was down at the house with Mary Ellen, and of course, he was fascinated with the Bobcat, even though it was rather noisy as it sat there running so the plumber could use the hoist to pull the pump.
About mid-afternoon, Eli's mom came home from work. Eli went to his house for a nap, so my sister-in-law was able to take over as plumber's helper. I would imagine the pump went back down into the well a little easier than it came out since there wouldn't be any spraying water to deal with.
So, that was the extent of my work as a plumber's helper: wrapping a feed sack around the joints and keeping the last section of pipe from swinging back and forth like a giant pendulum. Oh -- I also kept the wires straightened out as they came out of the ground.
My sister-in-law said she was really looking forward to having running water again. I know how that is. It's one of those things that you use every day and take for granted. . .until it doesn't work. And then you realize just how much you depend on it being there when you want it and need it.
More Rain
The warmer and more humid weather resulted in a half an inch of rain falling on Tuesday. At times, the rain was rather torrential and came down at a pretty good rate. The periods of heavier showers did not last very long, though, and when it was finished raining, we had a half an inch in the rain gauge.
The trees are starting to show a little bit of color now. I don't know how much color we will get this fall. A plant expert on a local public radio show the other day said he suspected we would merely have a brown fall because of the drought and high temperatures during the summer.
Some of the red maples in the hills around the house are beginning to turn red. And the leaves on one of the small oak trees at the edge of the yard is turning a reddish-vermillion color. But maybe that will be the extent of our color.
I am going to miss the bigger oak trees along the road this year. There were two fairly large oak trees along the road next to the big pines that turned the same reddish-vermillion color as the small oak tree at the edge of the yard. Those bigger trees were spectacular, especially at sunset when the slanting red rays would catch the color the leaves.
The oak trees are gone now. The town patrolman cut them down.
LeAnn R. Ralph
Monday, September 17, 2007, 21:15
The Un-Bumper Crop
Every year after it freezes, Randy picks his pumpkins and brings them up by the house so that we can enjoy them. He always puts them around the bird feeder pole right in front of the house, and some years, we've had quite a large pile of pumpkins.
One year there were so many pumpkins that our orange tom cat, Gilligan, who weighs 16 pounds, used them for camouflage. He would crouch among the big pumpkins and watch the unsuspecting birds coming to the feeder. His color made it easy for him to blend in with the big pumpkins. Occasionally he would make a wild leap at a bird coming to the feeder, but the pumpkins impeded his upward mobility, plus the bird feeder is so far off the ground that he would really have to make an unprecedented jump to reach a bird.
Another year we had so many of the very large pumpkins (Big Max and Atlantic Giant) that we needed the tractor and the bucket to haul them up to the house. Other years we have used Randy's pickup truck to haul them. Even just one of them wouldn't have fit in the wheelbarrow. And if one of the pumpkins did fit in the wheelbarrow, it would have been impossible to push something that heavy up the hill to the house.
Gilligan isn't going to have much for camouflage this year.
After planting five different kinds of pumpkins, we only ended up with a few. And none of them are very big.
In other years, Randy's big pumpkins weighed in at over 200 pounds. His biggest pumpkin this year might be 20 pounds. Funny how much difference a drought can make, isn't it. And funny how much difference an invasion of squash bugs can make.
Sunday afternoon, because all of the pumpkin vines were dead and frozen, Randy picked the pumpkins that hadn't been destroyed by the squash bugs and brought them up to the house. He made it with one wheelbarrow trip. One. Usually it takes a half dozen trips or more.
Our pitifully small pile of pumpkins is pretty, though. We've got a couple of the very deep orange Cinderella pumpkins. And a couple of field pumpkins. And some of the cute little fluted pumpkins. And a couple of the 20-pounders. We don't know what kind the 20-pounders are, whether they are Big Max or Atlantic Giant. They didn't grow big enough to be able to tell. But the pile certainly is decorative with all of the different shapes and colors.
I really like those little fluted pumpkins. I'm going to plant those again. They are absolutely just adorable. They're supposed to be good to eat, too. I don't necessarily care if I eat them. They're too cute to eat.
It's kind of early to have the pumpkins up by the house. Then again, it was kind of early to get a 24-degree night, too, last Friday.
But now that the pumpkins are up by the house, I'm going to enjoy them. I'm going to admire them every time I look outside the dining room window or go outside to feed the horses or take the dogs for a walk or rush off to cover something for the newspaper.
After all, it's going to be one whole year before we can even hope to have another pumpkin crop. And there's still a fall, winter, spring and summer standing between now and then.
LeAnn R. Ralph
