My mom would drive the truck forward as she watched in the mirrors for a signal to stop. She was short in height but she must of been long in patience. She was constantly adjusting the mirrors to find who was to signal when to stop. Well it wasn't that easy. When to stop, When to back up. Slow down. Just a little more. Don't move. Move.
The signaler wasn't designated. Any of one of the men (Uncle Cap or my dad) could make a hand gesture and she had to catch the slightest movement out any one of the three mirrors in her view.
She was always moving the mirrors to find the men. See they were always moving around to their advantage of pulling the sucker rod out, and attaching the heavy coupler to the next section, then driving the truck forward or back just a little more to lay the sucker rod aside and start pulling the next one from the hole.
It was a long day of driving forward to pull a section of sucker rod out, attach the coupler to the next section, taking the two sections apart, releasing the top coupler, driving backwards to switch the chains to the bottom coupler, taking the top coupler off, driving forward to pull up the next section of sucker rod only to now be on step one again. Thus she was always watching in her mirrors for signals from people that always moved out of the range of her sight.
Don't worry, if she missed the slight hand gesture both of those men could yell the demand in a loud booming voice that out weighed any noise that happened to accompany this delicate job. Usually a curse word was attached to emphasize the importance of the tedious operation that was being performed.
This was like taking your small intestines slowly through your large intestines all the while trying to diagnose where the blockage is so they could correct why your not moving your product through your pipes. The kicker was if they found the bent or broken rod only two or maybe three down you still had to pull them all out and replace the leathers. The leathers were the end of the line. They get worn down with every pump of the sucker rod. It just proved safer to replace them. Then you slowly put your small intestines back through your large intestines and hope it worked or you start all over. It is very time consuming and delicate. The trick was not to make it worse than what your were trying to fix.
After it was all put back they would test it out by attaching the pump jack. The pump jack was a heavy piece of equipment. If you've ever seen a picture of the oil fields with that thing attached to the oil pipe that went up and down to move the sucker rod, that is what I am talking about. If the wind don't blow, the windmill don't pump. So you had a pump jacks. Now a days you have an electric pump at the bottom. You don't depend on just wind. You become god of the Well and dictate when you will have water. But the job of pulling the well is even more delicate because you now have the electric cord running down the hole next to the pipes. Kinda like a main artery that can burst if your not extra careful. Not to many wells remain wind and electric. Most times they pull the sucker rod out and go solar. But for cloudy days you still need a generator.
But to get back to my story. It was long day of pulling it and putting it back together. They had this down to an almost science. But I do remember having to pull it twice, once. That is a feeling of despair. Coming back the next day and starting all over again.
One time I remember driving out to the mill with my mom. The mill needed pulling. The men went out early to haul the tools out and get things ready. One would have to climb up the windmill tower and attach a chain and pulley to the center. To that the coupler was attached to a chain and the first sucker rod.
We arrived and my mom started to back up the truck and center it to the windmill. A big shout went out to turn around and drive in. Forward.
Not thinking anything my mom did just that. They secured the chain to the front of the truck. I think I witnessed a tear in my moms eye. After all these years she could drive back and then forward, while keeping an eye on the men (not in the mirror). This day hardly a word was spoken. Before long she could out guess the next move and already be slowing down to where she needed to come to a stop.
For the longest time we have been adjusting our mirrors. Looking at what was behind us. Glancing forward to make sure we were going in the right direction. Making the same ole ruts. Staying on course. Keeping in line. But we have turned the truck around. Now our view is clear. Now we can start making the calls.
I don't know if the well will be fixed. Having full view had no effect on the repair. It just made it easier to endure.
Instead of turning our cheek time and time again to keep up with the task. We are now going to push back. Our day of reckoning is here. We have lived on the defense for too long. If your a family member that hasn't unfriended me for being on the defense, I'll warn you you will not like what you see on offense.
The last thing our Lawyer said was "You may not get all you want but you will have at least pound of flesh".
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