Kitchen Table Kibitzing July 18, 2021

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Sunday July 18, 2021 · 5:30 PM PDT

2021/07/18 · 17:30

Well Well Well

When we purchased our farm the water supply was a leaky redwood tank which was filled from a spring down in a canyon. The pump was a very old fashioned “Bulldog” pump which leaked about 10% of the water with every stroke. Going down into the canyon, 200 foot deep and very steep, carrying tools, was a challenge, but I was young and strong, and met the challenge. As time passed we replaced the pump and the redwood tank, the latter with an 8,000 gallon concrete one.n

Though the water was delicious, some of the best I’ve ever tasted, the continuity was not assured and its purity was unknown, with possible contamination. So we decided to drill a well. We were aware that we were in a low-water area, so we contacted a dowser, with connections to the driller.

I was neutral about dowsing, though it sounded pretty flaky to a science-based mind. But he indicated one spot to drill. This seemed too close to the road and 500 feet from the house so I had him continue and he determined another spot near the house, they drilled, and we have had water for decades.

As an extra bonus, the chosen spot is at the end of the rows of 120 redwood trees I planted, which capture huge amounts of fog and recharge the well’s aquifer.

The next-door neighbor wanted to sell his lot and brought in a well-driller. He got a dry hole on attempt #1, then #2, then #3. Each attempt cost a lot of money. He was a crusty old character (RIP) and if he were alive I guarantee he’d be a trumper. I suggested a dowser and he scoffed….”that’s all BS.” I said what have you got to lose, and…...number 4 was successful.

Now that the west is in a drought, it turns out that dowsers are booked far ahead as folks drill new wells. I ran across an article today in the Times which was fascinating, Two Rods and a ‘Sixth Sense’: In Drought, Water Witches are Swamped. “Amid California’s drought, desperate landowners and managers are turning to those who practice an ancient, disputed method for locating water.” I had to read between the lines and make some leaps, but as far as I can tell…….he is our dowser.

Since I accepted the belief in one unbelievable thing, how far does this extend? Snake oil cures? UFOs? Ghosts? Adam and Eve? Republican integrity?

YMMV.

Kitchen Table Kibitzing is a community series for those who wish to share a virtual kitchen table with other readers of Daily Kos who aren’t throwing pies at one another. Drop by to talk about music, your weather, your garden, or what you cooked for supper…. Newcomers may notice that many who post in this series already know one another to some degree, but we welcome guests at our kitchen table and hope to make some new friends as well.

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