Meanwhile, Back Home

The last of the old irrigation system that fed this valley. The old wooden trough has fallen down and this is the only remaining piece. We can see it from our property, across the highway.

The soil is different in Oroville, than in our garden, because the Morning Glories are pink, but just as magnificent.

On our way back, we drove through Chesaw and the Nighthawk border station. This is a desolate stretch of road but full of history and evidence of old irrigation viaducts and small mining operations. The plan is to flood this valley with a hydro electric dam.

I got Nathan and Chad to stand still long enough to pose for a portrait at the gate.

This country is very lush and green where irrigated, otherwise it is desert. When I took this photo, I was standing only a few feet from where my father-in-law killed a 4 ft. rattlesnake only days earlier. This is getting too close for comfort but the intense heat and dryness is driving snakes and badgers across the highway to find comfort.

While we were away, we left our house key with Lis's brother who is a heating and air conditioning guy. The idea was to have a new high efficiency furnace installed. It would take Thursday and Friday and we were glad he could fit us into his schedule. On Friday, late in the afternoon, he called. I do not usually leave my cell phone on while on holidays, but did this time, and actually picked up some business too.

So, he says that he has some good news and some bad news. I never have liked that phrase. The good news was that the installation was complete and successful. The bad news was that as he was cleaning up in the furnace room, he noticed the hot water tank right next to the furnace had sprung a slow leak. He thought he would simply tighten the connection but when he did that, the whole thing 'blew out'. There was water running everywhere, even as we spoke on the phone. I told him where the main water shutoff was and that stopped the flow, but now we had the prospect of coming home to no water pressure and no hot water for laundry or showers. My mind was racing as to how I could make arrangements at long distance to have the tank replaced when he told me he might be able to do it on Sat. I made tentative arrangements but was relieved when he called again on Saturday morning to tell me he had a tank and was going to my house to replace my now defunct one.

The problem was solved, thanks to my great brother-in-law, being generous to us with his time. I now await the invoice for the whole procedure.