January, 2010 

Today, a strange discovery. The guys pulled up the floor in the old kitchen addition and found an old well right under what once was the kitchen! It sits just outside the original house foundation and must have been really convenient in 1850. Today it’s a little disconcerting to have a very large, very deep hole under the floor. It has a wooden cap and soft lead (lead!) pipes running from it to a cistern next to it. 

I can imagine the hand pump there in the kitchen. Washing dishes in a big basin. Enjoying a draught of clear, cool water on a hot day. I can also imagine standing over the void in my slippers next year, knowing there’s a big ole’ hole right beneath me. Under the skin of what we see, so much more going on.

At first, I got excited at the possibility of using it as a source for a geothermal heat pump system. Such are the things that get me excited these days. Heck, there’s the well we just capped a few feet from the back of the house and now this one under the floor. Water a’plenty.

Nice thought. Turns out to be a) very expensive, and b) “not in our timeline”. Did you catch the joke: “timeline.” Very funny Clark. So the well’s been recapped and waiting for the next major renovation, probably in another century. Sleep tight.

At first, I got excited at the possibility of using it as a source for a geothermal heat pump system. Such are the things that get me excited these days. Heck, there’s the well we just capped a few feet from the back of the house and now this one under the floor. Water a’plenty.

Nice thought. Turns out to be a) very expensive, and b) “not in our timeline”. Did you catch the joke: “timeline.” Very funny Clark. So the well’s been recapped and waiting for the next major renovation, probably in another century. Sleep tight.