Harold Snell, the founder and leader of Snell Septic and Construction, holds a special place in my heart.
He was the first Big Man In A Truck to love dogs I met when I moved here. When I first saw him in his big truck, he had five corgies sitting quietly in the front seat with him in special blankets and pillows. The dogs, he explained, went everywhere with him.
Two of them still do. Another one was in his son Brian’s truck today. The whole family is dog rescue crazy. One in the front seat was rescued from an Amish Family (not my neighbors) who had a sick dog they didn’t want to keep. The Snells would lever let that fly.
Because of them, I came to want a small dog, and there was Bud. I am not a big man in a truck, but I appreciate them. They are all terrific workers and honest people.
The Snells are legend here; they have been planting and fixing septics for over half a century. They are open and honest, friendly, and considerate, and they know everything there is to learn about septic tanks and the seeping fields that often surround them.
When you are in trouble, you call Harold. And a Snell comes. They tell me what it costs and stick to it.
Our water stopped draining a week ago, and we thought we would have to replace the entire septic system and spend tens of thousands of dollars that we don’t have. I was in near panic, we couldn’t use the toilet for days and here was no easy end in sight – Harold couldn’t even look at the ground or build a new system until the Spring thaws.
He called me early this morning to see if he could come over and figure out what was happening. Nobody could.
This was great news. I’m especially fond of Harold, a soft-spoken gentleman who always comes running to help. He is among the most profound dog lovers I’ve met; he dotes on his corgies and brings them everywhere. They sit quietly in the car while he works.
He also loves mysteries. ( I gave him a good one this morning.)
Maria took a great interest in this; she loves engineering challenges and anything to do with carpentry, plumbing, or water. Go figure that out. She can talk to the best of them, they no longer bother talking to me.
She and Harold connected and spent hours talking about pipes, water, septic, soil, and tanks. They had it all worked out when I came home from my Mansion meditation class.
Harold found the problem – some draining tanks deep in the ground were clogged entirely after 50 or 60 years of use. He said our septic might be small, but it was in good shape and fine for two people. He and Maria had worked out a response that I can’t even begin to describe, other than to say it involved keeping our septics and replacing the pipes that lead out to the leach field. We don’t need a new system, any new licenses, expansions, fees, or engineers.
The water holes in the system were all blogged from decades of use.
We need to dig big holes in the ground and put new pipes into the pasture where the water from the septic goes (deep.) That will be expensive, but not nearly as expensive as new septic tanks. He did manage to get the water draining a bit from the receiving tanks.
Snell people have huge trucks. They need them. The yard was filled with giant trucks.
In between, Harold and I talked about dogs and mysteries. He is a good man, kind and gentle and hard-working. I didn’t understand much of what he was telling me, but I knew he would figure it out and guide us to a good place.
Seeing him or his sons, Scott and Brian, who also came today, is always good. I love the dogs they bring, they are unique and loving. They never tire of riding around. Zip tried to get into the truck to check the dogs out; I chased him away. That cat has quite an ego; everything is his business.
So we have water, and Maria, who stayed outside in the cold to watch the Sells work – they dug up a lot of dirt around the septic tanks – explained it to me in expressive detail. I got to write the first check for $900. I’m grateful to Harold for showing me the best of the country – honest and hard-working people who care about the people they serve and do it with grace and warmth.
They have saved my hide again and again. And my wife is a remarkable person. She is much more than a Willa Cather women.
