Rain Chain
It hasn't rained here for months. The last rainfall was October 5. I'm keeping track of these things since this climate is so novel to me. We had a dusting of snow in December that evaporated, and an inch of snow in January that only lingered in shady spots but is long gone.
It's also been too warm. Too warm. The locals are very concerned, the ski area is a little desperate. For days our winter afternoons have reached 60 degrees and in the bright sun it's much hotter. We sit outside in shirtsleeves and need to find a spot of shade. Everyone tells us this is unusual for Santa Fe in February.
It's pleasant --- really, really pleasant -- but oddly unnerving. Even Alexa is spooked. Her voice wavers uncertainly each time she gives us the forecast for the day.
Nights are still cold, in the 20s, but in the daytime sun it's hot. Plants warm up and then freeze, over and over.
I'm thinking about rain a lot. I ordered a rain chain for the front corner of the house. See where the canale spout juts out from the top of the portal?
That's where I'll hang a chain to direct water downward instead of splashing out over the gravel and back onto the cement floor of the porch where it puddles. Or at least it did form a puddle that time 4 months ago when it rained.
It's a long string of copper cups hung on a chain from the canale, to capture and slow the rain as it pours off the roof. It creates a soothing sound and it directs the water straight downward in a staged, checked flow.
Laura had one at her house (the Air BnB we stayed at last year), but the way it was hung meant it was decorative, not a functioning chain to direct water. She just had the chain attached by an eye screw directly under the lip of the canale. That isn't going to work. I do love her red gate, though.
When rain pours out of a canale, it doesn't run straight down, it arches out. For a rain chain to capture that fall, water has to pour directly down, not out.
So we need a rain chain canale adapter, which is a thing. They sell a sleeve that fits over the spout and extends it a bit, with a hole in the bottom. The chain is then hung from the bottom hole.
That will work. So I'll get a sleeve adapter for the canale and a lovely copper chain of cups to slow and direct the water whenever and if ever it rains again in my lifetime.
Installing the chain and the sleeve adapter will require a man with a ladder to go out and put it up. So this is going to take negotiating, possibly some cajoling. A long term project for sure, but not to worry . . . it's not going to rain any time soon.
It's also been too warm. Too warm. The locals are very concerned, the ski area is a little desperate. For days our winter afternoons have reached 60 degrees and in the bright sun it's much hotter. We sit outside in shirtsleeves and need to find a spot of shade. Everyone tells us this is unusual for Santa Fe in February.
It's pleasant --- really, really pleasant -- but oddly unnerving. Even Alexa is spooked. Her voice wavers uncertainly each time she gives us the forecast for the day.
Nights are still cold, in the 20s, but in the daytime sun it's hot. Plants warm up and then freeze, over and over.
I'm thinking about rain a lot. I ordered a rain chain for the front corner of the house. See where the canale spout juts out from the top of the portal?
 |
| It's warm here this winter, but not this summery. This is a shot from last August. |
That's where I'll hang a chain to direct water downward instead of splashing out over the gravel and back onto the cement floor of the porch where it puddles. Or at least it did form a puddle that time 4 months ago when it rained.
It's a long string of copper cups hung on a chain from the canale, to capture and slow the rain as it pours off the roof. It creates a soothing sound and it directs the water straight downward in a staged, checked flow.
Laura had one at her house (the Air BnB we stayed at last year), but the way it was hung meant it was decorative, not a functioning chain to direct water. She just had the chain attached by an eye screw directly under the lip of the canale. That isn't going to work. I do love her red gate, though.
When rain pours out of a canale, it doesn't run straight down, it arches out. For a rain chain to capture that fall, water has to pour directly down, not out.
So we need a rain chain canale adapter, which is a thing. They sell a sleeve that fits over the spout and extends it a bit, with a hole in the bottom. The chain is then hung from the bottom hole.
That will work. So I'll get a sleeve adapter for the canale and a lovely copper chain of cups to slow and direct the water whenever and if ever it rains again in my lifetime.
Installing the chain and the sleeve adapter will require a man with a ladder to go out and put it up. So this is going to take negotiating, possibly some cajoling. A long term project for sure, but not to worry . . . it's not going to rain any time soon.
Comments