Fairlee, VT -- July 30th, 2003

        The Saga Continues.

        Well, there have been some changes, there has been some progress, but it sometimes seems like climbing up a sand dune. At the time of my last writing, just a week ago, my phone had just been installed. I sent friends and relatives a celebratory email announcing my new number, but the phone stopped working just twenty three hours later. I walked down the road to send another email explaining that I wasn't ignoring my phone, and to phone Verizon for service. After 25 minutes of automated attendants and music-on-hold, I was politely but firmly told that the line would be fixed by Monday and eight. Five days away! I didn't even think to ask whether she meant eight a.m. or p.m.

        Meanwhile the hot weather broke and we transitioned to a week characterized by light drizzle. Absent the occasional thunderstorm, the rain here varies from fog to light mist. Sometimes hard enough to demand a raincoat, but barely enough for measurable accumulation. This, too, has passed, and we are now enjoying the best Vermont summer weather. Cool evenings (below 60), mist rising from the lake in the mornings, and dry days in the mid 70's with puffy clouds.

        The phone service had reappeared by Sunday morning, and the power company was finally able to hook power to our temporary pole Tuesday. When the rain stopped Dave, my carpernter, was able to finish the shed for my pressure tank and hot water heater (yes, we are softies) and on Friday a load of assorted boxes and plumbing hardware mysteriously appeared in the new closet. On Sunday my friend Win came over in the afternoon and orchestrated the insertion of the submersible pump 350 feet down the well. Charlie and I unrolled black plastic pipe all the way down the driveway, then placed spacers every 20 feet along its length. Next we strung electrical wire along its length, and slipped it into spaces in the spacers (yes). Then we taped the wire to the pipe every seven feet so that it could not flop around and rub off its insulation. Finally we ran a nylon rope along the whole length.

        Meanwhile Win had removed the temporary cap from the well and drilled the side of the eight inch casing for a pipe fitting. He attached the pump to one end of the plastic pipe, and connected the wires to the pump. While we snaked the pipe/wire/rope in the driveway near the hole, Win tied the rope to the pump and we were ready to begin. Win did the actual lowering of the pump assembly while Charlie and I fed him pipe plus, and Jane scurried around making sure that the pipe didn't kink. Everything worked as planned (Win has done this many times before) and soon we were attaching the plastic pipe to the fitting at the top of the casing, and installing the permanent well cover.

        Today we might get some water pressure. Stay tuned. Meanwhile I have been designing our "ideal" house, and yesterday I tried to locate it on the ridge, minding the locations of boulders and 100 foot pines. It wouldn't fit. That will be the task for today, along with everything else. This is a vacation?