Thursday, December 19, 2002
Frozen Hose
It got down to 25 degrees last night. When temperatures get
that low we can’t count on having running water in the morning. It usually
takes until around 10 a.m. before the pipes thaw out and the water flows.
It’s not a major inconvenience unless one of the frozen pipes bursts, giving
me some extra work. I have most of our exposed pipes insulated but when the
temperature drops down to the 20 degree area, even the insulation can’t be
relied upon.
Our last storm provided a welcome 3.5 inches of rain but the
ground is so dry the water was immediately soaked up. We need at least 3
days of steady rain to saturate the area and provide enough run-off to start
filling ponds. Just about every pond in the county is dry and it would be
nice to get them full for the summer fire season. Hoping for rain tonight.
Cath with frozen Hose
__________________
Being a techno geek, I’m always up for new electronic toys.
My latest purchase is a new radio scanner so I can listen to all the drama
taking place on the backcountry air waves. Our property is butted up to the
Cleveland National Forest so I’ve been listening to the Park Rangers
discussing chores over their two way radios. I have the privileged of
knowing that all the park restrooms are cleaned and sanitized for the day.
Actually, monitoring the public service frequencies isn’t a bad idea when
you live in the boondocks. My old scanner was surprisingly informative
during brush fire season. We could listen in on the communications with the
aircraft dropping fire retardant. The worst news we ever heard on the
scanner was when the sheriff’s helicopter was landing at the property next
to ours. Actually it was the communication from the officers on the ground
telling it to return to base. They had requested it to evacuate Cindy Passek
for a medical emergency but she past away before it could arrive. She had
just been released from the hospital after routine surgery when she suffered
complications related to internal bleeding. Not one of the better days in
our valley.
