Dear Cyndy,

Thank you very much for your letter, which I found in my
"Inbox" when we arrived here. We made the trip in a single
session, locking the door in Belmont at 9:10 a.m. on Saturday
April 27, and turning on the lights here in Konnarock at 2 a.m.
on Sunday. I took three naps of about 20 minutes each.
We had reached Harrisburg PA in broad daylight at 6 p.m.
Neither Margaret nor I were ready to sleep. The driving
was easy. By the time we reached Winchester VA, the sun had set.
There were many brightly illuminated signs for Motels easy
to see from the Interstate, but the locations of entrances
were far from obvious, and there was not a single instance
where it was not much easier - and safer - simply to keep on
driving.  The circumstances that Virginia has raised the
speed limit on the Interstates to 70 mph, that the roads
were clearly marked with lines of reflective paint, and that,
it being Saturday night, there were few trucks on the highways
made driving into the night an obvious easy choice.

As soon as we arrived, I unpacked the car, and that's when
the trouble started. When I switched on the submersible pump
it appeared to function but for a reason not then apparent the
water pressure never rose above 10 lbs/sq in., not enough to 
propel water from the basement to the first floor. I checked
the fuses and measured the voltages on the wires to the pump
and could find no deficiency. My initial diagnosis was that
the pump had been damaged, perhaps by lightning. Replacement
would be mechanically difficult, because extracting the pump
from the well would entail also pulling up the 125 feet of
galvanized steel pipe by which it was suspended. If in the
process of extraction the pump fell into the well, it might
be next to impossible to recover, and a new well might have
to be drilled.

For the time being at least we might manage by collecting
water in the basement and carrying it upstairs to flush the
toilets, but it soon turned out that the toilets would not
empty, and water in the toilet bowl rose until it threatened
to spill over the rim. I had no explanation other than that
the roots of the trees which had grown up over the drainage
fields in the course of the past sixty years, had finally
choked off the flow and might make  it necessary to reconstruct
a septic system de novo. Not an inviting prospect.

Margaret was very tolerant of all the inconveniences. The
following day, Sunday, we drove to Abingdon to try to purchase
a camping toilet, without success. The store that purported
to outfit campers turned out not to be serious about its mission.
Relying on my experience with Nantucket and the now 4 1/2 year
old ban against using the plumbing system there, I went to Lowe's
to buy a toilet seat and a five gallon pail on which it would fit,
making it possible for us to stay in the house while the septic
tank was pumped and other necessary repairs could be planned.

On returning from this shopping trip, as I pulled the car up to
the garage, I noticed a torrent of water pouring from the garden
hose faucet, which I had forgotten to close when starting the pump,
and that mistake had prevented the pressure from rising.  With a
single turn of the valve, my water supply problems were solved.
Of course the drainage issues remained, but I thought I should try
one more time to pour two gallons of water into the toilet bowl.
To my surprise, it drained!  My explanation is that there was probably
an air lock in consequence of improper venting (I didn't install it.)
or a bird's nest in the vent, (I didn't climb on the roof to look.)
In any event, the problems disappeared. My diagnoses had been mistaken.

An unexpected bonus: the sciatic pain which had been troubling me
almost continuously for the past several months disappeared, and as
of now hasn't returned. Perhaps the stress of the long trip and the
anxiety about the imaginary house problems generated enough endogenous
corticosteroids to suppress the inflammation. I hope the effect lasts.

I check the Suffolk Superior Court website twice a day. As of this 
evening no date for the hearing has been set. Unless summoned back
by the Court, we will stay here for three months until the end of July.

Please keep me informed about your health. My very best wishes to Ned
and to yourself.

Jochen