We've taken to calling our new house "Number 9" — after it's street address. As we continue to settle in, we're getting to know Number 9 and its habitat, its creaks and quirks and trees and stones. And there's remembering which light switches do what, how full afternoon sun will pour through those big west window & bake the place if you don't leave windows open. I'm also thinking about what I can do myself and what I should leave to the pros. The back gutter was clogged, but since it's a good twenty-five feet above the ground, I hired someone to do that. And then there's the automatic irrigation system that came with the house....
The lower boundary of our new back yard is a vine-covered fence atop a ten-foot high retaining wall. Below the retaining wall is La Loma Avenue. The irrigation system covers the entire grounds with drip emitters, microsprayers and few big sprayers, and is divided into six zones, with a central controller. To test it, I turned on each zone, one at a time, and watched it go. I identified broken or misdirected elements, and made some minor repairs. After finishing with zones one through five, I went back to the controller at the front of the house, turned on zone six, made a quick front yard repair, then sauntered into the back yard to see how zone six (labeled 'lower backyard sprayers') was operating.
I arrived in the back yard to the sight of a geyser. The first big sprayer was missing its head, and a fat, high-pressure stream of water was shooting high up in the air...and disappearing over the retaining wall. My moment of stunned confusion ended when I heard the sound of a car...running through a jet of water. Yes, the geyser was coming down right in the middle of La Loma's northbound lane, and since it was just beyond a curve in the road, I'm sure it was totally surprising drivers. Most surprised, on this warm, sunny Sunday afternoon, must've been those driving with the top down. Yikes!
Unable to wrestle the spout in another direction, I ran back up the hill, around the house, and turned it off. The hazard existed only for a few minutes, but still, it could've caused an accident, or at least an irate driver coming up to hunt me down.
I'm naturally wary of stuff like gas & electric, but who'd've thought I could get in trouble with irrigation?