Ask Captain Dramatic

There was recently a mis-hap involving a sprinkler head and the lawn mower at our house. This led to some funny snip its in our daily life. I thought maybe you might enjoy hearing about them as well.

As many of you know, when sprinkler head comes into contact with the blades of a lawn mover, the outcome is never in the sprinkler's favor. The sprinkler in our back yard was no exception. We set to the task of removing the broken sprinkler head. This required a shovel, but only the small hand held spade, as the sprinkler heads in our backyard are pretty grown over with grass. (I had dug them our enough for them to pop up and water, but with the other work required at the house, digging them out completely had not been a priority just yet.) Captain Dramatic was eager to help, and started digging around the sprinkler head to get down to the base when it attached.

Not too far into his digging he stopped.

CD: "Mom. There are a ton of roly-poly bugs in here."
Me: "The won't hurt you."
CD: "It's gross! There are tons of them!"
Me: "Just push them out of the way, and that sprinkler head off. We have to get to Lowes and back in time to put the new one on before dark."

A few minutes later...

CD: "Mom. I keep pushing them out of the way, but they keep getting back in the way. It is like they think this sprinkler is their God, and they have to be at its feet! I don't want to squish them and get bug guts on my hands. I am going to get the gloves."

I couldn't stop laughing at the image of pillbugs worshiping the sprinkler long enough to respond. Needless to say, we got the sprinkler head off, and made it to Lowe's. We got our replacement and few extras for when this happens again. We didn't make it home before dark, but we did put the new sprinkler on despite the dark, and promised ourselves we would adjust it the following evening. The sprinklers weren't due to run again until about 4 AM the morning that, so we had time. (We tend to water only three days a week.)

The next evening it was time to put our sprinkler system on manual and set about adjusting the sprinkler head we had replaced the previous day. Of course, this was not a job that Captain Dramatic was going to pass up. It meant he got to play in the sprinklers! Before I knew it he had a channel lock in one hand, and screw driver in the other and was stripped down to his boxers waiting for the sprinklers to come on. While this is amusing to me, something told me the best was yet to come. I pulled up a patio chair to watch.

The sprinklers came on, and the adjustments needed were made. The other sprinklers were checked, and we decided that we had best unbury them as our next new home task. Then we noticed part of the drip irrigation systems needed our help. One of the nozzles had come off the drip line, and the line was now shooting water six feet. To my surprise the nozzle that was missing from the end of the line was easy to find. I handed it to Captain Dramatic, and asked him to go screw it back on while Dad-E adjusted the water pressure to the drip irrigation system.

All was going well, and it seemed another crisis had been adverted without another trip to the hardware store. That was until Captain Dramatic came running back to the patio talking about a snake, and swearing it rattled its tail at him. Now what was I going to do? I do not react like a grownup when there are reptiles, arachnids, or crickets around. A snake is most definitely one of those things. Dad-E decided to go investigate.

Me: Be careful! Don't get too close until you known it is!
Dad-E: I won't. CD, show me where it is.
CD: OK

Then both go cautiously across the lawn. I waited on the patio with my phone, and watched as they went closer.

Dad-E: That is your snake?
CD: It looked like it at first. I didn't wait around to find out if it really was or not.
Dad-E: That is not a snake.
CD: I can see that now.
Me: What is it?
Dad-E: Remember when you parents brought their dog over? Well she left us a present.
Me: Oh. CD, scoop your per snake up and put it in the garbage.

At this point we were all trying so hard to get the giggles under control.

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