Close encounters of the furred kind...

May 7, 2009:
There’s a groundhog in the grill! And no, I’m not talking about some roadkill cuisine that has just suddenly occurred to me. As I drove into the parking lot of the church as I returned from lunch, my attention was captured by movement in the seventies vintage brick barbecue pit in the corner of the lot. I saw it in time to catch the hindquarters of a very large groundhog turning around and disappearing into the grill.

I thought it was closed. I thought it was concrete on the bottom. I thought the sides were solid brick. Obviously, I was mistaken.

I stepped closer to the grill, and I could see no hole, only the accumulation of leaves from seasons past. I looked down the hillside behind the grill, and saw no signs of the escaping wildlife.

I guess he (or she?) lives there in the inner, hidden recesses of the grill. No fire has touched it in years, so it must be a strong brick house. No fear of big, bad wolves for this little earth-piggy.

Live well, my furry friend, live well.

Septic Tank Pumping Etiquette

I had the septic tank pumped today. I was told they would arrive sometime between 11 and 3, and would call when they were about 30 minutes away.

They called about 11:45.

A nice young man named Tyler showed up at the door. I showed him where the tank was located, told him I thought it was about 1200 gallons, and that we had lived here 10 years and had never pumped it.

He told me he would knock on the door when he was done.

When he came to the door, he asked why we thought it needed pumping. I told him that I knew it had been at least 10 years, and we periodically could smell sewage.

(I didn't share with him the fact that we have houseguests coming over Memorial Day weekend, and Murphy's Law tells us that if it were to fail, it would be then.)

He told me that the level was above the outlet; that he rarely sees them full to that level. He also told me that he pumped out 1500 gallons.

I gave him my credit card, he called in the charge to the office, and offered me some sage septic tank advice. (I also didn't tell him that I had worked in the wastewater business for over twenty years.)

As he left, he reached out to shake my hand.

I found this rather odd, but I shook his hand, nonetheless.

When I went inside, I found the hand sanitizer and used it.