Butch was using the tractor to dig out one of our hills, making a flat spot to build the barn. He was also developing the spring. We knew we had water but didn't know how much and didn't have it collected for our use. When he wasn't on the tractor or working on the spring, he'd spend time 'witching' for water. Being a life-long Baptist I prefered the term 'dowsing'. Anything having anything to do with anything witchy, I stayed away from. (Interestingly, when we'd have people up and ask if they wanted to learn to witch for water, a lot of them would shy away as if we'd asked them if they wanted to take part in an animal sacrifice ritual. So it wasn't just me who didn't understand the terms or how that whole thing worked.) I didn't know Butch knew how to do that and it kind of concerned me. I mean, was it weird? I studied up on the subject and learned that it's all about magnetism and is perfectly not weird.
What was weird is that after Butch taught me how to do it, and it was very very cool by the way, we were both 'hitting' on the exact same spots over and over again. I know there is absolutely no proof this works but we figured it couldn't hurt. We had decided to go ahead and have a well dug near the house. Even though we had a spring, it was a quarter of a mile away and we had to actually go get the water. There was no way we were going to be able to run the water from the spring to the house. It was too far and uphill all the way. It would take a LOT of work and expense. I pushed hard for a well and water running into the house all by itself. Hence the water witching, or dowsing, if you will.
The drillers needed water to be able to dig the well so that's one of the reasons Butch was working on getting our spring developed. This meant: digging an eight foot deep hole in the ground near where the water ran out of the mountain, sinking a huge plastic tank into said hole where the spring water ran gleefully into it and then out of it when it was full, where we could then suck it out when we needed it. This whole enterprise was done on the side of a steep hill. I don't really know how he accomplished this feat because the one time I went down there to watch and his tractor was tipping in a precarious angle, I left and never went back. Until it was done. He scared me to death sometimes. This man had no fear (or sense).
Once the tank was filled with water, we hired the well-diggers to come out and dig our well for us. Such an exciting day! They brought their big truck up, went and got a tank of water from our spring and then proceeded to dig a 320 foot dry hole that cost us ten thousand dollars. We told them to stop as we had no more money for a deeper dry hole. We have a ten thousand dollar useless hole in the ground. Now who else can say that? WHAT a disappointment! What a waste of money! There was water EVERY WHERE!! None of us could believe they didn't hit water, especially since we both witched there and 'hit' every time! We threw our witching sticks out and accepted the fact that we'd be hauling our water to the house for the foreseeable future. Bummer. I was getting tired of Butch saying, "Well, part of it." and moving on to the next thing without the required angst and complaining and general gnashing of teeth that were par for the course for me. So..... we're not going to gripe and moan about this even a little bit? Huh. Well that's disappointing. Hmph. Ok, on to the next thing then. Grumble, grumble....
Butch then built a cute little springhouse over the water tank in the ground. We found out that first summer that we had free range cows all over the place who had appointed our spring as one of their favorite watering holes. We knew we didn't want to have to fish a dead cow out of that tank, so he built the springhouse. After we found two voles and one dead rat in the water, he then built a cute sturdy wood cover for the tank that mosquitos and Grand Daddy Long Legs just LOVE. This wood cover is heavy. I have often almost fallen into the water tank just trying to get this lid all the way off. I have often wondered if I'd be able to get myself out of the tank if I fell in. Thankfully I have not had the occasion to find out. And don't plan to. Brrrr!
Speaking of free range cows - this was new to us. We thought 'free range' was the old way but mais non! We did some asking around and found out that Montana is a 'fence out' state while Texas is a 'fence in' state. If we didn't want these cows in our yard or messing around our spring then we had to fence them out of our property. Considering we had 162 mountainous, rocky acres, fencing our place off wasn't going to happen. I guess it would be possible but it would cost an arm and a leg so... we learned to live with the range cows. We both like cows. It wasn't that big of a deal really, we just didn't want them messing around our water source and defiling it. So, Butch, ever the problem solver genius, put a trough in at the spring so that the overflow that ran out of the tank, went into this trough so the cows had a place to drink from which kept them from our water which was great. Problem solved. Our dogs kept them out of our yard. All I could think of when I saw their big cow patties was, "Oooohhhh, manure.... that will be gold for the garden I will put in." Plus, being sort of a farm girl at heart, I liked hearing them moo all summer. It's a comforting farm noise. It was good.
While all of this was going on, since I couldn't be of any use to Butch at all in these endeavors, I was getting to know our place. It was so beautiful up here! But kind of scary too. We had been told we had mountain lions and bears and to be careful. I had already had a run in with a mountain lion in Lolo which had scared the bejeebers out of me. Being from Houston, I was used to scary things - tornadoes, car jackings, muggings, snakes - but nothing that wanted to eat you. So to be watching for carnivorous animals was a new unwelcome experience for me. My first few forays away from where Butch was working weren't that far, maybe twenty feet? All of these big black stumps that were left over from logging, pretended to be big black bears and snickered when I would stand and watch them for movement. As time went on, and nothing happened, I got braver and braver, and went further and further out. There were antlers to find! Why finding antlers was so exciting to me at the time I can't figure out, but it was. I found a few small moose antlers and some deer antlers and one that Butch said was something called a 'jackalope'. Never heard of that one before. Haven't seen one either. Hmmm...... I think he might have been pulling my leg.
In the beginning when I was so frightened to go out by myself, and I was whining about it, Butch said, "Ok, let's talk about this so you can feel better." (What he actually said was, "Since you're being so ridiculous and wimpy, let's talk about this so I don't have to hear about it anymore." Tsk.) I think he thought he was trying to be helpful but he so wasn't. Here is the conversation that happend which I swear is true, word for word. His part is all twangy and irritated sounding:
Butch - "Ok first of all, if you see a bear or a mountain lion, don't panic."
Me - "Huh?"
Butch - "Second of all, if you see a mountain lion, make yourself look bigger."
Me - "Huh?"
Butch - "Third of all, if you see either one of these, don't run. He will then see you as something to chase and he won't be able to help chasing you. If I hear that you ran, I will shoot you myself."
Me - "HUH?"
Butch - "If you find that you do have to run from a bear, remember that you cannot outrun him. Even if he does weigh a ton, he can run fast. Also remember that bears don't run well downhill for some reason, so head pell mell downhill not bothering to look back or get up if you fall. Just keep rolling." (He actually didn't say 'Pell mell'. He said, 'Run like hell' but I didn't want to cuss. Potty mouth.)
Me - "Huh?"
Butch - "Do not shoot at them if they're not being a threat. They are innocent woodland creatures just out for a stroll. You are in their home. Just slowly back up. And NO SCREAMING, no running, no sudden movements. And the dogs will probably protect you and run them off anyway."
Me - "Snort!"
Butch - "Now if they do come after you, just shoot your gun in the air to try to scare them off. But remember that the bear that everyone has been seeing around here is believed to be deaf so that won't work. And remember the .38 you're carrying will just piss him off anyway so I wouldn't shoot him. If you're carrying the bear spray you have to wait until he gets within 40 yards before you spray him. Make sure the wind is blowing in his direction."
Me - "Huh?"
Butch - "Last but not least, if all else fails, roll up into a little ball, covering your head with your arms and kiss your butt goodbye 'cause you're a goner! Haw!" (His annoying attempt at humor.)
Me - "Well. Huh."
After this so not helpful conversation, I decided to not worry about it. I realized that if I ever saw a mountain lion or bear charging me, I'd die of a heart attack on the spot anyway, so it wouldn't matter. Problem solved. This began many many happy hours of exploring in the woods, picking berries, finding treasures, praying, breathing deeply of warm pine needles and fresh air and taking walks in that peaceful, lovely, quiet place that became a sanctuary for me. I was the happiest and most at peace there. I realized I was home.
Sounds so idealic, even with the water problems.
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