The price of rain

Lately, the oasis has gotten a couple of nice rains, which means pumping water if everything doesn't fill up from a huge monsoon. I hadn't known that the rain filled the [upper] dirt tank until two days after the fact. By the time I got there, half the water was lost.

I finally managed to get the remainder pumped out into the stucco tank, adding 10" to it. Thereafter, I went back to Alpine to recuperate.

Photo by Ricky Green

That night it rained again, and filled it again, so yesterday I went right back down, still unrecovered from the previous day. Terlingua Ranch resident, Ricky Green, volunteered to help me with the pumps. That was a godsend for me.

We eventually got the pump going. The broken tank had also harvested a lot of water in that second rain, so we set up an electric pump in it. 

Photo by Ricky Green

It no longer holds water so I planned to pump it into the stucco tank. It contained enough to top off the stucco tank. After Ricky left, the gas pump quit running and the electricity went out. In hindsight, I should've used a gas pump in the broken tank. I had thought I could make the pumping easier by using the lighter electric pump. Didn't expect a power outage.

This morning, I tackled the situation by myself. I changed the oil in the gas pump, leveled it better, and finally got it going. Since I had anticipated topping off the stucco tank with the broken tank water, I continued pumping the [upper] dirt tank water into the lower dirt tank, which holds better. Good plan.... if it had worked. Without help, I couldn't change the setup. It was locked in.

All morning the electricity went off and on, mostly off. By the time I got the upper dirt tank emptied into the lower dirt tank, I was too worn out to continue. So I went to town. Naturally, after I left, the electricity came on, and stayed on. But I didn't sleep well last night and couldn't bear the thought of another night without AC. And even if the AC is working, it's too loud for me to sleep well.

Currently, the stucco tank lacks about 18" of being full. I plan to go top it off in a few days from the lower dirt tank, unless a monsoon fills everything. The pump at the lower dirt tank is harder to get going. Ricky said he'd come help if I need him to. 

My back is hurting real bad, but I think it'll feel somewhat better in the morning. It's never pain-free. Those days are long gone.

Still hanging on

Not much has been going on lately. My broken toe is better, but I always have pain on the bottoms of my feet when doing a lot of walking, or when watering trees. My understanding is that our padding thins as we age. So yesterday I bought a pair of expensive (for me) Skechers shoes that seem to give more padding. I'll know more next time I water.

The oasis has been getting a few small showers, which is nice, but so far, not enough that I don't have to water. More rain is forecast, so we'll see.

I watered two days ago and enjoyed seeing lots of newly hatched Scaled Quail.

The oasis is hosting California Spreadwings dragonflies again this year, which I like. I doubt I'll get any Mexican Amberwings since the big tank that had them has failed, but we'll see.

Here's the latest drought map for our area. Not looking good, but for now the oasis is fine.

Surviving and hoping

I feel like I survived a near "perfect" storm. Last week our car was in the body shop, my foot had a broken bone, water had to be pumped, my son was in Colorado, and my pickup was broken down. The only thing that kept it from being a "perfect" storm was that it broke down in the carport in town, and not at the oasis. That would have been unbearable. 

I survived dealing with the heavy gas pump and all that entailed. (That was before I got the special shoe for my foot, while the bone was freshly broken.) A terrible ordeal. Thereafter, I rested in town for several days.

So, yesterday it was time to go water and service the feeders. I finally had my pickup back. At least I didn't have to go through the torture of climbing into and out of my husband's big tall pickup. I got a late start, as I had to take care of some business in town first. 

At the oasis, I serviced the feeders. By then it was brunch time and hot, so I ate, and napped. After my nap, it was 110° out. I started watering, hoping it would rain and I could quit. Looked promising, but didn't happen.

It did cool things off though, so I was able to finish watering in more comfort, not taking into account how bad my feet, knees, and back hurt, especially the broken foot. Since rain is forecast  during the next week, I did a brief three hour watering only, and got back to Alpine before my regular 11 PM bedtime. I would have spent the night at the oasis, but that would have meant running the AC all night. I simply don't sleep well in a room with a loud AC running.

This morning I'm not feeling too bad. My broken foot hurts, and I'm a bit more sore than usual. Hoping to be able to take it easy for a few days. And if it does rain at the oasis, I hope everything fills up so I won't have to go pump. Surviving and hoping seems to be my lot these days. But so thankful to be able to survive and hope!

As I watered, chats were very vocal and the water drip was very popular!

Scott's Oriole

Crissal Thrasher

Broken foot bone

May 25

May 29

On May 24, I stubbed my little toe on a chair leg. I figured it was broken, but as the swelling, etc. subsided, I could pinpoint the break and it was in the bone leading to the little toe. When it seemed not to be improving, I went and got it x-rayed. Dr. says the break is healing, but slowly because I flex my foot, so he put a non-flex shoe on it.

I really had been abusing it. On May 27, two days after the break, I watered the trees at the oasis, which entailed walking for four hours on it. Then after I got back to town, the oasis got a good rain and caught some runoff. On the 29th I went back down to pump some of the water. That meant dragging a heavy gas pump, carrying priming water and gas, getting into the tank of water to arrange the intake, and too much other torture to mention. When I finished that, I took a nap, then cleaned out a storage building that my son had recently mouse-proofed. (He's currently in Colorado for a month) Plus all my regular housework, feeder servicing, etc. Basically, from the time I broke it, I did all that I normally would do, plus some. With this unflexible shoe, and resting it, it should heal now.

A couple of years ago I cracked my other foot's navicular bone and was hobbling in pain for nearly 8 months, but this isn't as debilitating.

As for the rain, the oasis looks lovely, and I added a couple of feet of water to the stucco tank. It loses 1½" per day, so not a great gain, but I've learned that every little bit helps.

Sometimes I feel like life is in a holding pattern, just waiting for the next hurdle! But so many people are so much worse off, that I can't complain. I feel gratitude!