A Ride in the Country

A couple of nights ago, Jim had to go check on a well and asked if I wanted to go to keep him company. I said, "Sure!" and grabbed a book so that I'd have something to do while he worked.

These things never quite work out that way.

We found the place, a vacant piece of land save a pole barn that's seen better days. There had been a house there at one time, but it was long gone, the only evidence of its existence being a dip in the ground a little ways back from where we found the well.

Since there was no house and no electricity, Jim needed to hook his generator up to the pump and get it pumping because the customer wanted to see if the well was still usable. It's an older well with steel casing which meant that there would be a build up of rust and that, in turn, meant that it would be difficult to pull the pipe (inside the well that leads to the pump that is down in the well) up the five or so feet that he needed. Don't want to bore you with details, but let's just say that pulling up, by hand, even five feet of 100' of pipe that has been sitting in a well for a good many years is made very difficult by the build up of rust.

I started getting out of the truck about the time Jim was motioning me to come help him. He said, "I'll probably have to come back with the service truck to pull it up." The service truck has a hoist which makes pulling pipe and pump out of a well much easier than using your brute strength. We're getting older and using our brute strength is getting a little more difficult. ☺ We decided to give it a go though, the two of us working together. And we did it. With each of us manning a pipe wrench holding onto that inside pipe in the well, we pulled it up a little at a time. Then Jim would hold it up while I moved my wrench down and then he would grab that then I would put the upper wrench that he had below it and we would pull again. Confused yet? We did this over a few times until we pulled up five feet of this 100' feet of pipe. We then hooked it up to the generator and got it pumping and then we watched it until the water ran clear. Then, working together again, we lowered the pipe back down and put the cap back on the well. Success! Jim could now call his customer and let him know that he had a working well on his property, which would save him a good chunk of change!

I love working in partnership!

I had taken notice of this beautiful rosebush which, I'm sure, had once been the pride of the lady of the house that no longer exists. It sits at the end of what had once been their driveway. With no special care all these years, it continues to thrive. On our way out Jim cut me off a few blooms and put them in a vase after we got home. They smell glorious!

I love the way my husband thanks me for helping!