Rain, rain, go away!

With the generous help of Michael and Cecilia Gray, we got the tank pumped out today. (I'm so very grateful to them.) Everything else is full of water and it's threatening rain. If any significant amount falls, there's no place else for it to go except into the stucco tank. I can't patch it until water stops running into the tank through the leaks. We all got very worn out today. I couldn't have done it without their help. They're the best!

The above photo is of me examining the leaks. It's not of my fall. That didn't get captured on camera. The ramp going into the tank is slick and muddy. I made several trips in and out for various reasons. On one of them I skidded off the ramp into the deep end of the tank. Had I been able to stand up it wouldn't have been over my head, but the bottom was sloped and slick. When I stayed underwater, trying, in vain, to stand, I finally decided time to swim or tread water or something. Once I did that, somehow I managed to get on my feet, but it took a while. I hate getting my head underwater and swallowing that nasty water. Yuck! At least I didn't hurt my sciatica. That was my only fear in falling. The water was a soft landing. Thinking about it makes me laugh now. Not so much at the time.

Here is a photo Cecilia took. It was after I got to my feet and making my way out. Michael had been putting gas in the pump up on top and came down still carrying the gas can. I had lost my UV glasses and was trying to recover them, which I finally did. Normally, I entered the tank along the wall on the ramp. Everything was covered with mud so I used a broom as a walking stick, brush side down. Where you see the broom on the photo is where I skidded off the ramp and into the tank. Where I ended up the water was about 4½ feet deep.

Here is the biggest leak, but not the one that has the most water coming from it. Maybe because it's up higher. The piece on the left third of this photo is the patch that peeled off the hole (the rest of the photo). Obviously, I'm going to have to come up with better solutions. Right now, though, I want to get it patched and filled.

I was able to start patching the above hole. The round one below it is still leaking too badly.

Here's the caterpillar of a cool moth, maybe a Forester moth?

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The laugh is on me. Michael and I were taking turns photographing an Elf Owl, fearful that it would flush. I snapped photos while Michael went to get a different lens or camera. When he walked back toward me he asked if it was still there. I said, it must not be very nervous of our presence, because "it has one eye closed." When I downloaded my photos, I had to laugh at my mistake. No closed eye on this owl.

Update: It only sprinkled tonight. Since there was nothing I could do to the tanks this evening, I came to town for hydraulic patch, gas, etc. That way I can get down there and patch early AM and start filling. Won't have to wait for it to set up. The only urgency to filling is that with every delay the water in the dirt tanks goes down a bunch. I want to hurry so I'll have enough to top off the stucco tank. But more important are secure patches. I think I'm winning.