The proverbial bear, as in “Some days you get the bear, and some days the bear gets you,” went on a rampage at our house. In one day, our 40-plus-year-old well pump quit. So did our 18-month-old refrigerator. This saga began a few weeks ago. The bear is still mauling the refrigerator, but we chased him away from the water supply.

Water was restored permanently, five weeks to the day later. The bear didn’t leave it alone without a fight.

Day 2. The well driller delivered bad news. The well pump was shot, and they couldn’t pull it. Old pumps often freeze tight to the casing.

“We can pour acid down and see if it breaks free, or we can drill a new well,” he said.

“We’ll pass on the acid,” I answered quickly. “Drill the well.”

“Only one problem — we can’t get to it for 10 days.”

“We need water!”

“Does your neighbor have a good well? Does he like you?”

“He has city water, and he waves.”

“Hook a garden hose to your outside faucets. You will get enough water to flush toilets — pressure won’t be great.”

Day 2, continued. Our neighbor was accommodating. By evening, water flowed through 250 feet of garden hose into our house.

My wife turned on the faucet. “Hey, we’ve got better water pressure than before!” she said.

I wasn’t surprised. Two gallons per minute probably caught the old well.

There was just one problem. Our outside faucet leaked profusely. I could see it busting off in my hand if I fiddled with it. So instead, we shut the valve on the hose on and off regularly.

Day 10. “Hey, Tom, good news. We found water at 55 feet,” the well driller reported. “Bad news is we only found a foot — won’t make a good well. So, we went 120 feet, hit soapstone.”

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“We drill more holes, or you hook onto that city waterline on the other side of your road, like your neighbor,” he replied.

“That’s my last resort. I talked to them before — sounded like a giant hassle and very expensive. Can’t you drill deeper?”

“Drilling through sandstone is tough. If we hit water, it will smell like sulfur. I can recommend a plumber who can handle the whole city water process.”

Day 19. No word from the plumber handling things. I called. “I thought they should have approved your application. Let me check,” he said.

Ten minutes later: “Tom, they emailed me two days ago, but sent approval to my personal email I don’t check. Will get it going.” Grr, that bear had sharp claws!

Day 35. After several tussles between our contractor and the water company, equipment filled our driveway. By evening, we had mounds of dirt everywhere.

“Carla, turn on the faucet,” I said.

Water flowed out. “Hallelujah!” she shouted. “We have water!”