You may recall in a former post, that back in December my brother Jared and I cleaned and raised the water pump in Deep Creek.
The pump rests firmly upon the creekbed floor during the summer when water levels are low, but must be raised above the muddy sediment during the raging torrential waters of winter. In spite of our efforts, the pump became silted up over the rainy season and was no longer able to pump water to the farmhouse. Rose and I were faced with the daunting task of lifting the pump up onto the river bank to dismantle and clear the blockage.
SpaceX to the rescue
A few weeks ago our friend Adam offered us a tour of the SpaceX Starlink satellite facility in Redmond (previous post here), in exchange for a farm tour at Neverstill. On Monday Adam arrived with his girlfriend Michaela and we couldn't help but enlist the assistance of a SpaceX engineer to hoist the pump out of the creek and perform the necessary maintenance. It was a great excuse to escape the summer heat in the shady creekbed. We took our time discussing world affairs in the cool waters while the kids slathered themselves in oozy mud and splashed about in the refreshing brook. With the pump cleaned and de-silted, our water supply was replenished and we moved on to enjoying a hearty meal of slow-simmered cassoulet followed by homespun bourbon vanilla gelato and almond macarons.
|
