Welcome Home

We moved to the farm when in September when I was 9, and our first house that our family had was a mobile home. I remember the first day that my siblings and I came home from our new school, and saw the house sitting in a field, situated between a pear and persimmon tree. The house looked like it didn't belong there on the farm. The land had a life of its own, pastures, creeks, hills, and forests. It seemed confused by the sudden structure propped on blocks, disrupting the wild harmony of the country. Homes are usually built over a period of time in the country, like the growth of a gradual relationship between man and wild. 

But not our home. It was just there one day, without water, plumbing, or electricity. We used candles and kerosene lamps for our first couple of days. For our family, it was like we were reenacting the pioneer stories, and I can't recall any complaints to using the portable toilets and lack of TV. The newly disturbed earth from our habitation created encounters with snakes, spiders, scorpions, and wasps. Electricity came the first week, and we had plenty of light to see our new neighbors. 

Water took a long time to come to us because we had to dig a well. Our weekend routine was to load up the truck with water bags and buckets and drive to family who lived 40 minutes away. We went to their bathtubs and filled up with as much water as we could carry, in order to be able to wash, eat, and dispose of waste during the coming week on the farm. My brother, sister, and I were ordered to bring all of our clothes so that they could be washed, and to take a bath while we had the chance in the city. 

This went on for 3 months. One day, when again my siblings and I came home from school, we saw something out of place. As we got off the bus and stepped onto dirt path that led to our house, we looked up to see a towering metal structure roaring away the fall afternoon. It was a couple of hours before we even stepped foot into the house, as we watched with fascination as the drill rig churned away at the earth in search of water. Eventually the men working for the drilling company called it a day and gave up, finding no source of water down to 80 ft. The next day, in another spot, they found water at only 15 ft, and built a well 30 yards to the south of our house. 

The water was-and still is sandy, but it's the best water I have ever tasted in my life. The underground spring that our well used was naturally cool and clean. I remember my dad saying that he rarely had to change filters on the pump because it was so pure. 

Within the next month, we built septic tanks, plumbing fixtures, and a well-house. At the age of 9, I learned just how much work was need for the basic utilities that you take for granted living in the city. It was nearly winter by the time that we could take showers and flush toilets. I can't remember if it was a relief. Probably because the work was just getting started...