Farm Life Panama Sept 15, 2024

Two weeks away from the farm is about my limit. Much more than that and my anxiety over what might be going on, or not, dominates my thoughts. The recent trip to NC for our annual medical exams was relaxed and enjoyable with my cousin and her family and we capped it off with a welcoming reunion in NY with Gary's family.

As we arrived home all looked good from the lower gate as we drove up to the main house. Construction on the new villa we intend to rent had progressed as promised. The new rainwater drainage looked to be complete and the horses were all in their usual places.
Then I saw it...the red light of warning...the dreaded signal...our farm water tanks were empty! No hot shower for a welcome home, no toilet flushing, no laundry. I grabbed the beam flashlight and headed out the upper gate hoping to locate the problem before the night obscured the landscape.
Our water supply from up the mountain affords plenty of water to our entire area including all the new home construction, especially in the rainy season. The issue is with the archaic and simplistic collection and delivery system...a tangle of plastic pipes and valves that have not been documented since the time they have been buried. No one really knows where all the pipes are located or which pipe serves which farm. When water stops filling our tanks it is typically a break in a pipe somewhere and located by hearing the hissing and gurgling of water shooting out of the break and sometimes seeing the spray. Unless the break is a pipe snaking up the cliffs or hidden by dense jungle growth. Or, it could be that someone turned a control valve to adjust their water pressure without regard to the downhill homes.
Not successful with finding a break close to the farm I returned home to ask the neighborhood via our WhatsApp group if anyone else was having a water problem. No. A resolution would have to wait until morning. But...an hour later I again looked at the incoming water pressure guage and it was back! Our tanks were filling! The logical guess was someone uphill was messing with the control valves. But this topic is a whole other story.
The morning demanded catching up on farm tasks. So I set to it first watering all the potted plants. But I was being watched as I worked. A sizable spider catching the morning rays and enjoying her amazing orb of a web. A small spider clung to strands at the bottom of her orb. Likely her intended mate. In the tropics the smart thing to do is not mess with any of the insects. Period! Many are toxic or venomous. This large lady, argiope argentata, is non-venomous to humans...but consume their mate during copulation. I think i will leave it there.



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