Our First Christmas at Upakrik Farm
Clara and I moved piece by piece to our new home in Deale. We started moving our belongings from College Park on Thanksgiving Day of 1990, using our station wagon and neighbors’ trucks. Most of the move was made on weekends. Mid-week, one of us would make the trip to Deale to feed Pumpkin, the cat left behind by the previous owners. We selected the name Upakrik Farm while eating dinner in a restaurant in Wayson’s Corner on a return trip to College Park.
We finished our moving on December 24.
That’s when we discovered that the furnace was not working. The cause was simple: The fuel tank was empty.
We had purchased the house with the understanding that there was oil in the tank. But there was no external gauge. A calibrated stick had to be inserted through the fill pipe to measure the amount of oil still in the tank. We hadn’t measured the level, though we’d conserved fuel oil, setting the house thermostat at 55 degrees during the move. Now what oil had been in the tank was all gone.
Our urgent call to the fuel oil distributer gave us no hope. Because we were new to the area, no delivery would be made until our credit was verified. On Christmas Eve, verification was impossible.
But there was a small wood-burning boiler connected to the oil-fired boiler, and about a cord of wood was left behind the garage. I used experience and knowledge I’d gained from working for my dad, who was a plumbing and heating contractor, to disconnect the electrical wires to the circulator pump of the hot water system, fasten a plug to the wires and connect the circulator to a duplex outlet. This was necessary because the circulator would not function unless the oil burner was operating. I then fired up the wood boiler to warm the house. The wood-fired boiler required a fresh supply every hour to keep the house confortable.
So we were pretty warm as we spent our first Christmas at the farm putting things in their proper place and getting organized. We were warmer still when we hopped into the hot spa in the family room to bathe in warm bubbly water. Both our girls drove up from College Park to join us.
Southern Maryland Oil made a delivery of fuel on December 26, and I reconnected the circulating pump to the oil burner circuit.
Despite that first day, we have never regretted moving to Deale from College Park. The solitude of living in the country has combined with many new friends to make us appreciate life to its fullest.
Ask Dr. Gouin your questions at [email protected]. Please include your name and address.