Posts Tagged ‘soaking rain’
Soaking Rain
There are a variety of ways our land is impacted by an inch of rainfall, depending on the time of year and how dry or wet it was beforehand. Yesterday, that amount of rain seemed like a lot more than just an inch. It rained for most of the day. Asher was about as reluctant to go out in it as I was. We made a trek down to the barn while it was raining rather intensely in the middle of the day to retrieve empty feed buckets from the morning serving.
Asher led me back to the house without hesitation after I was done down there, not even pausing to pee. We both decided the best course of action at that point was to nap.
When the appointed hour for feeding horses in the afternoon arrived, there was a pause in the precipitation, and Asher and I took advantage of that to first walk through the woods and around the fields. The trails were like flowing rivers. Water in the drainage swale along the south border of our property was overflowing its eroded ruts.
Water draining out of the hay field was running on top of the boards that keep the riding mower wheels out of a rut.
Soggy is an understatement for the conditions during our little walk.
The horses were split between interest in eating the feed pellets I was serving up and staying with the freshly washed green grass. Can’t say I blame them.
I inadvertently made a new version of a pitchfork the other day while turning the manure pile inside the large paddock.
I’m not sure what it would be good for in this configuration, but it looks interesting. Using a long-handled tool until it gives out due to metal fatigue serves as a marker revealing you’ve been at this game for a significant amount of time.
At this point, I suspect my body is going to give out before we see the replacement fork Cyndie brought home yesterday fail. I think my back was getting dangerously close to feeling like that pitchfork looked when it cracked on me.
It’s funny how robust physical activity can be a good workout for the body while also potentially putting it at risk of failure.
A little like how rain can be beneficial for all the growing plants and creatures, but can also be so soaking that it becomes too much of a good thing. In these cases, the adage “moderation is key” becomes the advice to heed.
I can control how hard I work my body. Too bad I can’t control how much or how little rain we receive on any given day.
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Following Up
Picking up right where I left off yesterday, the story is rain and more rain, and a raccoon that needed to be dealt with once and for all.
Tuesday was a crazy day for Cyndie at home. First, she had to move the horses into the barn for an appointment with Marcus to trim their hooves early in the morning. After cleaning up from that project, she started calling around to see what interest our local authorities might have in our ailing masked bandit.
Since no humans had come in contact with the raccoon, Public Health referred Cyndie to the DNR. They said they didn’t have anyone who could come out, but gave out the number for their biologist. They also suggested she could call the Sheriff.
The Sheriff’s office suggested she call the DNR. Figures.
Eventually, the dispatcher offered to pass on the issue to a Deputy who would call Cyndie back.
Cyndie said she was finally trying to have some breakfast around 10:30 when Delilah started a barking fit at the front door. It was a Deputy Sheriff.
The officer asked if we had any firearms. Nope. Then she offered to shoot it for us.
In her estimation, there was a good chance the coon was suffering from distemper. Regardless the affliction, ailing wildlife is not something you want around for other predators to eat, so she assured Cyndie that it was the right decision to call.
The Deputy elected to use a shotgun, so she could keep a distance. Cyndie said the weapon was almost as long as the petite officer was tall. After several warnings that the shot would be loud, the results possibly messy, that it would startle our horses, that it would be very loud, and that Cyndie didn’t have to look if she didn’t want to, the deed was done.
By the way, this was all accomplished in the rain.
The very kind and helpful officer stayed around to give Cyndie a hand triple-bagging the body and putting it into a closed garbage can for storage until our trash gets picked up.
One good thing about the rain is that it washes away any residual mess that might appeal to our dog on her many walks past that spot in the days ahead.
Delilah is more interested in the sound running water makes as the mini-waterfalls pour over the edges of washouts in the drainage ditch cutting across our fields.
Seems like that water is going to be flowing for days, so she’ll have plenty of distraction.
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Daylong Soaking
In the hours that I had dreamed my friends and I would be enjoying the surrounding countryside from our bicycles, the atmosphere was crying cold tears. It was a cruel follow-up to the flash flooding we endured two days prior.
It rained and rained here yesterday. Sometimes waves of serious drops fell for a few minutes, but before and after them came a steady drool of H2O that mercilessly soaked an already over-saturated landscape.
Cyndie’s mud-swamped garden became more of a fountain of running water, moving her to proclaim the location a loss for her flowering vision.
We will contemplate a different spot for her dozens of perennial beauties, somewhere as eye-catching as that bend in the driveway, but not so directly in the line of drainage.
The afternoon lent itself to some serious power-lounging around the fireplace. I closed my eyes and happily entered dreamland on the couch, then woke up to do some virtual shopping and curious research on lawn tractors. I have found multiple ways to nurse along the used Craftsman tractor that we acquired with the purchase of this property four mowing seasons ago. I think it’s had enough.
I think the engine blew a gasket last Friday. Diagnosis and repair of this malady deserves someone more learned than me, and the time constraints I am facing. The grass cutting was only partially completed when the engine revved and the white smoke billowed. Growth is happening at maximum speed this time of year.
We’re gonna need a new mower fast. There is no shortage of water providing thirsty blades of grass with all they care to drink. The front end of our property needs mowing almost before I’ve finished the last rows at the back.
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Rain Ends
Eventually, I got that fire started Friday night and we cooked dinner over the coals while the next wave of precipitation teased out a few threatening preliminary sprinkles up at the lake place. It was a good thing we made that effort at the time because it then rained in earnest for the rest of the night and much of the day yesterday.
This morning the sun is visible, bringing with it a sense of relief, but everything in sight is soaking wet.
Yesterday, we slept late while the mesmerizing sounds of falling rain provided a perfect background song. After a gorgeous morning meal and some leisurely reading and lounging, Cyndie and company set out for town during a pause in downpours.
I chose to stay back, and while building a fire in the fireplace, discovered Olympic coverage on satellite television to which I have been deprived at home. My timing was just right to catch the women’s mountain biking race and the gold medal football match between home country Brazil and Germany.
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This morning the lake is calm and steamy. The slightest breeze brings down a shower of water from the soaked tree leaves.
After a day of being sedentary, I’m feeling a hesitation of motivation to move, but the beauty of the woods and lake beckon us to explore. I’m confident a walk is in store.
The day will be short before we must set off on the 2-plus hour drive back to waiting chores at home. At least the rain has ended for now. I’m hoping the sun will be effective enough today to dry the grass enough for mowing by the time we return.
We’ve enjoyed a little getaway weekend, but the chores that need tending don’t take any time off.
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Relative Something 