City Folk

Everything about living in the country is a new experience for us. We are what country people like to call "city folk". Since moving here I have come to learn that simply means “ignorant”. While living in Kingwood, us "city folk” didn't do a lot for ourselves. We thought we did but have since realized we really didn’t.

Well a month ago I woke up to a very chilly house and went to run the water in the sink and guess what? No water. I thought, “Great, who do I call for this one?” I soon realized there was nobody to call; there is no 311 out here. It was 28 degrees outside and soon 5 kids would be getting up and needing to go the bathroom. For those of you who don’t know… you need water to flush the toilet. Not long thereafter the first of our “needy” children came downstairs announcing they couldn’t flush the toilet. Then came the rest of them, like broken records, making the same announcement. I thought, “Gee, these kids need to quit complaining and appreciate the fact that they don’t have to go out to an outhouse!!!” But being the loving, patient mother that I am, I smiled and said something to the effect of “ I know my darlings, let’s call father and ask him what to do.” That is how I remember it anyway, that moment was a little fuzzy!

Anyway, we called Wes and guess what he told me? He said that I had to go outside and manually start the pump. Thank goodness we didn’t have a hand pump on the well or I am sure he would have suggested that. “Oh, and be sure to use a wood stick so you don’t get shocked”, he said. Well for a worrywart like myself, all I pictured was myself standing there being electrocuted. Who would raise my children? Would they have to go back to school? I should have eaten another helping of lasagna last night!! So melodramatic, I know.

So I finally got up enough courage, put on my hat, gloves and down jacket and sauntered out into the freezing cold weather to manually run the pump so my children could use the bathroom. I grabbed a stick, took off the cover and pushed the metal "things" together. Then it happened, I did it. I drew my own water from the depths of the earth like a pioneer woman. I suddenly felt like a character in one of my books. It was then that I remembered all the times that I said I wanted to be Amish. God has such a sense of humor, doesn’t he?

Lesson of the day: Make sure you wrap every single part of the well when it freezes!!

Well, it’s late and this Amish girl needs to get in bed. I must be prepared for whatever new adventure awaits me on my new frontier.