Big Bird's Tragic End

It's not like I wasn't warned; I was told this was going to happen. I saw the evidence with my own eyes that it had happened in the past, but a girl can still hope that after a winter of heavier-than-usual snow, under my house would not fill with water. Or at least if I avoided looking at what lay beneath, what I didn't see couldn't exist. So much for that.

Yesterday I went to open up the house to take a look at the sewer line. I'd been under a couple of weeks ago, and besides a little muddy patch right at the door, everything was fine. Since then I hadn't been over to that side of the house, so when I got to the access ditch and saw it full of water, I held a faint hope that the water was just there in the entry. I grabbed a bucket and started to bail. After 4 bucketfuls of water failed to change the depth in the ditch at all, I began to suspect it might be a little dampish under my house.


Just a tad.

Now that Mom and Dad have running water in their house, the sump pump they used in their spare well has been languishing with nothing to do. How convenient that I could provide an opportunity for it to work once again. One emergency trip into Westby later, Laura and I were ready to hook it up.

We'd had the doorway full of insulation because it doesn't have a proper cover right now. In case you were wondering, insulation doesn't do well when it gets wet. It floats gently on the surface of the water right up until you start to take it out and the water is no longer supporting the insulation's weight. Then it's very heavy and looks like the body of a certain well-known and beloved giant feathered TV personality. Kind of gruesome, really.

The sump pump that I am borrowing from my wonderful and understanding father is a completely submersible model, so all I had to do was hang it from a clamp from the floor joists and hook up the extension cords. The only problem was I couldn't get anywhere near the joists because the water was too deep. I laid a couple of 2x4's across the opening and balanced my torso on them while I wriggled and twisted to fasten the clamp, oh, it must be a good 3 inches inside the door. Next spring I am so setting this up ahead of time!

Now the pump is out there busily working away, but I have a feeling it will take it just a little to get the water level down. I suppose I can keep my spirits up by pretending I live in Venice. I always wanted to go to Europe and think of the money I'm saving!