What the Well Holds

Two 5,000-gallon tanks store the water that keeps the gardens and citrus trees irrigated across the property.

This week, I’ve been climbing up and down a ladder to check the water levels in two 5,000-gallon tanks on the property.

Normally, they refill from a well hundreds of feet underground and supply the irrigation that keeps the gardens and citrus trees alive.

Recently, the well stopped delivering water.

We found one problem in the electrical system, where an old cable connection was preventing the pump from working properly.

After repairing it, a blinking red light finally turned green — but the tanks still were not filling the way I expected.

So now I’m wondering whether the deeper problem is simply that, after a long dry summer with almost no rain, the well itself may be running low.

From the Week

I spent several days troubleshooting the system with our well technician over the phone.

We checked the control board, cleaned small components in the piping, inspected the switch on top of the tank, and eventually traced one problem to aging transducer cable connections.

Snipping the worn ends and creating a fresh connection brought the electrical system back online.

But the water levels remained low.

The next step is to test the well itself using the pressure gauge and air valve, which can help estimate how much water is still sitting below ground.

Until we know for sure, I’ve been topping the tanks off with city water so the property’s irrigation can keep running.

The Insight

It is easy to look around a green property and assume the abundance is simply there.

But every citrus tree, garden bed, and flowering plant depends on a reserve we cannot see.

The tanks depend on the well.

The well depends on water held deep underground.

And when something stops flowing, the visible problem may only be pointing toward something deeper.

Sometimes maintenance is less about fixing what is in front of you and more about tracing things back to their source.

The Practice

We have reserves too.

Energy, attention, patience, creativity.

Most of the time, we notice them only after they begin running low.

Meditation can be a way of checking the level before we are completely depleted.

Not necessarily to solve anything.

Just to notice what is still available, what is being used too quickly, and what may need replenishing.

Heard This Week

“What looks abundant above ground depends on what is held below.”