ELMER TELLS WHY HE DIDN'T HAVE A POST LAST WEEK

Sorry, I wasn't on last week.  I had planned what I was going to tell about and everything except an emergency came up - our basement flooded.  Before we built our house, we surveyed our property and looked at the highest place to build out house, so we would not have a flood in our basement.  After we built our house, we didn't have a flood - until a week ago last Friday.

I was coming in from milking when I heard Anna yell from the steps leading to the basement telling me the basement was flooded.  I told Anna it couldn't be.  She told me in no uncertain terms that she knew a flooded basement when she saw it and we had one.  I started down the stairs to the basement and she was right.

So I went and started the generator that ran the bilge pump, but that couldn't get it out fast enough.  Anna is having a fit of all her canned goods on the shelves in the basement.  We had the shelves elevated when we had them put in, but the water was gaining.  Finally, I realized there was only one thing to do - call the Fire Department and have them pump the basement out.

One of the houses the Fire Department rang into was David and Jean's.  At first when he heard our name, the first thing he thought was fire, but the message said to bump the basement.  He told the family where the Fire Truck was going and why - then left.  Albert decided that Michael, Edward, Thomas and himself should come over to see if they good help.  I guess Grandmother Olive tried to talk him out of it, but he didn't listen.  So the boys got the buggy and off they all came to our house.

The Fire Department arrived and starting bumping.  Jean's boys got sent to the basement to move some of the canned goods and Albert went to Hannah and Moses.  Albert pounded on the door and when Moses answered told him who he was (Moses already knew) and said I want to see your basement.  Moses said he was kind of shocked because no one has ever come to his door and told him they wanted to see his basement, but he didn't question Albert.  Down Albert and Moses went to the basement - there's wasn't leaking.  Albert explained why he wanted to see if their basement was leaking because ours was.  Hannah and Moses house was newer than ours.  Not much.  But newer than ours.  Of course while all this is happening, the rain is coming down in sheets.

Meanwhile the boys are in our basement moving the canned goods higher on shelves when Anna told them if they put all the canned goods up there the shelves would become top heavy and fall.  So they started taking the canned goods up into the kitchen and one of our spare bedrooms.

Now I started thinking if this is Spring and we have all these canned goods this time of year, we must have tons more in the fall.  I guess we do.  Just never paid attention to how many we had before.

The Fire Department got another needed pumping call and left.  Jean's boys were at our house helping clean up the muddy mess in the basement and what they made bringing the canned goods up stairs.  Anna was was making coffee and putting out cookies, pies, etc for all the helpers to eat when we realized - where is Albert?  Edward and I went looking outside for him.  We found him and Moses walking around the outside of the house trying to find where the drainage was on our house and why it was not working.  Albert met us with you have lousy drainage - in fact so lousy we can't find it.

We all went inside and Albert said to get some of our Amish men and he would get some Old Order Mennonites over here tomorrow morning to put in a drainage system.  As we think back, Anna and I realize how lucky we are this didn't happen before especially when I think of the snow melt this year and previous rain storms we have had.  The Lord was looking over us.  Albert said if it gets high again tonight to call the Fire Department again.

Next day, after chores, they came - Amish and Old Order Mennonite.  We or I should say Albert laid out where the drainage should be.  It was worked on Saturday.  We had some finishing we wanted to do on Monday.  On Monday we finished, just as another rain storm came.  Albert said now, we would find out how good the work everyone did worked.  All must have done a great job as we haven't had any water in the basement since.

Some of the ladies came along too, to clean the mud and dirt out of the basement.  Then they sanitized it with something in the water.  Washed that basement from top to bottom, the shelves and whatever else they could find.  Said they wanted to make sure they wasn't germs or bugs in the basement.  I think we have the cleanest basement in all the county.  Then they moved all the canned goods back and cleaned the house and kitchen where the trail was when the boys bought the canned goods up.

So that is why I didn't have time to leave a post last week.  With all the rain we had, we haven't had any water in our basement since the drainage has been fixed.  We did have Jean's family including Albert and Olive over for dinner to thank them for what they did.  Also, thank the Fire Department for all they did.


Trust God's Wisdom,
Elmer