and by ‘the country’ I refer to those places in this ‘land’ where people are scare and untamed animals roam in abundance. A place often glorified by City folks as idyllic. Came to this ‘far-away-from-the-City-place’, as you will have noted by the absence of posts, days ago. The evening I arrived, myself and two tamed creatures, turned on the water faucet and surprise, no water came out. Tried everything I knew to do, from previous country living experiences; nothing helped. Called the ‘caretaker’, and by phone, he asked me to check a few other things. Funny how ‘clock-wise’ depends on which side of the faucet handle you are standing, but not withstanding, no water, no pump. Knowing that he lives ‘over the hill’ said I could deal ’till dawn’, but he insisted. His arrival did nothing to alleviate the lack . ‘Wait until tomorrow,’ he said, ‘it is something with the line to the pump and I can’t fix that tonight.’ Potable water on hand until morning when he and helper return, remove the heavy wooden lid to the pump house for the well and he jumps in. “You are not going to believe this”, he calls out. “The on lever for the pump was pushed down to ‘off’, by the porcupine who stood on it to make his escape from in here. It most likely happened shortly before the other occupants left, given the lack of water in the commode. Now that’s a good one”. How, you ask, did he know it was a porcupine? By the exit teeth marks.