Years ago we leased farm land from a generous family. They had acreage not far from our home, and let us set up for growing chickens, egg layers, turkeys and beef on their property. On their 80+ acres, there was a smaller than a river, larger than a stream that ran through a section of the property. A small bridge they had installed spanned the water way.
The first year we were there it rained heavily at the end of June. It was the same week that the scout troop had to be evacuated from their week long camping trip: the fire company evacuated them, leaving all gear behind, as they were certain the flood waters would cover the island in its entirety. It was a few weeks before moldy and funky gear could be retrieved.
On the property that held our livestock, the water breached the banks after the third day of downpour. The first two days all was well, but the final day of rain just broke everything out.
We lost a lot of birds that day. The next year this generous family allowed us to raise livestock on a different, higher ground. And another year after that. We learned a ton, and when we bought property, we bought without a stream, a spring, a trickle of a water headway...nothing that might cause the kind of flooding that we saw many times on that property we leased. It seemed like a better idea to purchase a little bit away from where water can back up.
Today, we found this:
It looks to be about 12 inches of water in the bottom of this tub. Last week, we were short on rainfall for the year. We think the last 24 hours made up for it.
And in another spot, we are retaining a bit more water:
I was at the farmers market yesterday, as a vendor. Which means loading the truck, unpacking, setup, standing, hanging around...in the rain. Driving back in it as well.
This much rain also means I was outside a good bit of the night. Homer's truck has 4 wheel drive, so I took it out by the chicken pens to make certain that they were not getting flooded. Even with no stream there is a lot of water moving around the farm during this deluge. We just tried to tell each other it has stopped, but it has not stopped. It is just not a torrential rain anymore. Just steady rain.
The roads were not much fun on my return ride last night. Homer went to the hardware store and there was a log in the road. Debris everywhere, big time flooding everywhere.
We have to ask ourselves, in weather like this, if what we are scheduled to do is really necessary. Or if things can wait a day or two. Or a week. Not worth getting jacked up over it all.
The first year we were there it rained heavily at the end of June. It was the same week that the scout troop had to be evacuated from their week long camping trip: the fire company evacuated them, leaving all gear behind, as they were certain the flood waters would cover the island in its entirety. It was a few weeks before moldy and funky gear could be retrieved.
On the property that held our livestock, the water breached the banks after the third day of downpour. The first two days all was well, but the final day of rain just broke everything out.
We lost a lot of birds that day. The next year this generous family allowed us to raise livestock on a different, higher ground. And another year after that. We learned a ton, and when we bought property, we bought without a stream, a spring, a trickle of a water headway...nothing that might cause the kind of flooding that we saw many times on that property we leased. It seemed like a better idea to purchase a little bit away from where water can back up.
Today, we found this:
And in another spot, we are retaining a bit more water:
This much rain also means I was outside a good bit of the night. Homer's truck has 4 wheel drive, so I took it out by the chicken pens to make certain that they were not getting flooded. Even with no stream there is a lot of water moving around the farm during this deluge. We just tried to tell each other it has stopped, but it has not stopped. It is just not a torrential rain anymore. Just steady rain.
The roads were not much fun on my return ride last night. Homer went to the hardware store and there was a log in the road. Debris everywhere, big time flooding everywhere.
We have to ask ourselves, in weather like this, if what we are scheduled to do is really necessary. Or if things can wait a day or two. Or a week. Not worth getting jacked up over it all.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment