Harold Snell, leader of Snell Septice, is perhaps my favorite of the big men in giant trucks who have repeatedly pulled us off the cliff of disaster as our aging septic system began to fail, flooding the system and preventing its discharge of waste.

Harold is the first big man in a truck to show up with one of his beloved small dogs, in this case, five of them. They are all Shelties who loved to ride around in his giant trucks all day. He turned me on to the emotional pull of small dogs, which is why we rescued Bud.

His oldest died in December, and Harold chokes up when he talks of him.

I’ve worked with the Snells for nearly 15 years. They are all animal rescue people. I know them to be honest, competent, and always responsive in a pinch—and septic troubles are a significant and even terrifying pinch.

Harold is often kidded about looking like Santa Claus. He is a Santa Claus to dogs and to us. When the septic doesn’t work, you have a real crisis. The Snells always show up, fix it, and try to explain to me what they are doing. They have never been able to do that.

Brian Snell, who came with his father today, laughs when Harold tries to explain something complicated to me. But Harold is not deterred by my confusion and lack of understanding of how such things work. He feels obligated to tell me what I am paying for.

The Snells are the Royal Family of the Septic Business around here; everyone says they are the people to call when you need septic help. Those people are correct; I would have said the same thing.

I can’t explain to you what he is doing to rebuild our system, but I do know it will work, be well done, and be honestly billed.

I am told Harold has rescued yet another dog, this one from an Amish Family who said he was getting too old to work on their farm. Harold took him right away, no questions asked.

I have enormous respect for the Snells, for their character, and for the beautiful work they have done to keep our septic system going. The system was beginning to come apart a few months ago, and here the Snells are, working on a rehabilitated system building with tractors and pipes that will last for years.

Harold put me on his sacred list of projects; there was no chance of cutting ahead of the line ever.

Harold never gives up on trying to explain things to me; he gets the picture and starts to explain them to Maria, who can usually explain them to me. It works. They dug and shoveled all day.

They’ll return with a tractor on Saturday; perhaps Maria can explain what they are doing.  I will try again and possibly pretend I understand.