Sept. 1, 2007Where did August go?! I've spent many days and hours working on the updates for our website, getting advertising lined up for the fall activities, … and looking for leaks to fix in the drip tape watering system in the pumpkin field.
Our high school help went back to school Aug. 16th, so it's been me out with electrical tape in hand, listening for leaks. When we plant the fields, we lay down a drip tape and 4 ft wide strip of black plastic down each row before we plant the seed. This helps conserve water usage, and keeps weeds from growing around the vines.
Every now and then a weak spot or puncture happens, and we poke through the plastic with our fingers, dig around in the mud to find and lift the drip tape just high enough to wrap black electrical tape around the damaged area. It works well enough to seal most holes. It the leak is too bad, we cut and splice the tape with a coupler.
Yesterday I could hear the spraying of water against the inside of the plastic in a certain spot. Of course its under a big twist of vines, and my feet are sinking in the mud which the leak had created.
I'm hunched down, pressing along the tape (expanded round with water) to find the source of the leak, and then I poked a hole and ripped open the plastic along the tape.
Ahh! I hadn't been pressing along the tape but along the body of a brown and black rat snake! I just about grabbed it to wrap tape around its middle! Needless to say I waited until the snake moved on before I searched for the leaking tape again.
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