Getting Electricity

As I sit here I can look out the window at my now four week old tail wagging kid lying in the sun chewing the cud.  He looks so content.  Maybe because he never got his mother’s colostrum, he has seemed to lag behind Midnight (who I got at age two weeks) in development.  Sport has only been enthusiastically eating weeds for the past week and a half and whereas he should have been switched to three bottles a day at week two, it took tell week three to fully make the change.  But he now seems to be doing well and is growing nicely.  He clearly has little horns poking out from the top of his little head.  You just have to look closely.

Since it is currently the hottest part of the day the other goats are no doubt resting in a grove of Mountain Cedar trees that provide a blanket of nettles to lie on and a canopy of shade from above to keep them cool.

The cats are off hiding under the house or in the cabin or who knows where, taking their afternoon siesta.  This time of day I never see them.

Rick and I spend most mornings outside working but around noon both of us have to come inside to eat, rest, and do indoor type work.  It is just too hot to be outside in the middle of the afternoon.  This summer has not been as brutal as last summer, but we have had our share of 100 degree days (38c and above). 

Though the animals need to be tended to every day, they are not our primary focus.  Even when we were busy building the goat enclosure, in the back of our minds was our primary mission—people.  In recent weeks more of our attention has been turned to that mission.

The primary reason this land was purchased has always been to provide a place for people with Multiple Chemical Sensitivities to live.  For the past few months we have been in the planning stage of building one room cabins.  These cabins will come equipped with a kitchenette and a bathroom will be shared between two cabins.  The cabins will not be luxurious, but will be a roof over someone’s head.  They will also have electricity.

Electricity does not just happen.  It takes a lot of work and a lot of money.  About a month ago Rick and I drove to Junction, about 50 miles (80.47km) north of here, to talk to someone at the Pedernales Electric Coop. office.  

In the 1930’s most of rural America did not have access to electricity.  It took an act of the federal government to change that.  By providing federal assistance, electric coops could be formed whose sole purpose is to construct power lines and provide electricity to ranches and farms across the nation.  Pedernales is one of those coops. 

When I first moved to this property Pedernales had already installed a power pole and electricity to the house.  All I had to do was join the coop for a small fee.  Unlike for-profit electric companies that most people in the US get their electricity from, Pedernales is a not-for-profit cooperative, which means I am not just a customer, I am a member of Pedernales cooperative. As a member I vote in elections for board members, have a vote in changing any and all governing documents, and I have a say in what goes on. 

Though there is a power pole on the property, it feeds the house and the bill is in my name.  It just made since to have another pole installed in the ministries name and located where the cabins will be built.  So Rick and I drove to the Pedernales office in Junction, TX to learn what it will take to have a separate power pole installed.  The short answer is a lot of work and money.

The day after we visited the Pedernales office two engineers came out to the property to take a good look at what we wanted.  With clear instructions of the process we then got to work.

Step one:  Clear the land.  We spent several weeks cutting down Mountain Cedar trees and hauling the branches away.  There were also huge rocks that had to be removed.  Pedernales requires a 20 foot (6.10meters) wide easement for their power poles and rocks and stumps have to be no higher than 3 inches (6.72cm) for their trucks to safely pass over.  Since the power pole will be installed close to the property line, we were fortunate that Pedernales only required us to clear out a 10 foot (3.5meters) wide path.  Even that was a lot of hard backbreaking work.  But we got it done.

Step two:  Survey.  Once the land was cleared the two Pedernales engineers returned to survey the area and place markers where the poles and other equipment would go.  This task was accomplished last week. 

Step Three:  Payment.  We were told it would take a week to get the paperwork completed and the actual cost to be calculated.  Yesterday Rick and I drove back to the Pedernales office in Junction so that I could sign the paperwork and make the necessary payments.  Pedernales demands payment up front, which I can fully understand.  The total cost to them came out to $4256.77.  This total includes the cost of making the ministry a member of Pedernales, but by doing so we avoid taxes.  It will also make it much easier to know how much electricity each cabin is using.

Step Four:  Building the rack:  Before Pedernales will come out to install the power pole, we have to build a rack for the electrical boxes.   So as soon as we were done at the Pedernales office, we drove another 50+ miles (81+km) to Kerrville, where we stopped at the Electrical Supply store.  The materials to build that rack came to $2095.94. 

This morning Rick started the process of building the rack.  This is not an easy job as he must put two metal pipes a minimum of 24 inches (60.96cm) into the ground.  Jesus said a wise man builds his house on rock and not sand.  Well, these cabins are being built on solid rock.  Rick has to dig two 24 inch holes into solid rock.  Not an easy job.

Step Five:  Once Rick finishes building the rack Pedernales will come out and install the power pole and hook up the electricity.

“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on a rock.  And the rain came down, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house. And it did not fall, for it was founded on a rock. And everyone who hears these sayings of Mine and does not do them shall be compared to a foolish man who built his house on the sand.  And the rain came down, and the floods came, and the wind blew and beat on that house. And it fell, and great was its fall.” (Matthew 7:24-27) 

(Please remember Alpha Omega Christian Communities For The Chemically Injured is a not-for-profit Christian ministry.  We are dependent on the generous contributions of God’s people.)