A Little Rain, Another Big Mess

We had a little flooding problem here at the farm — not the kind that washes away houses and highways.  The driveway and some fences are a bit worse for wear, though.

This dirt path to the little creek is now a gravel path.   I’m not sure whether to thank Mother Nature for that little trick or send her a bill for the truckload of road rock we’ll need to repair section of the driveway that donated the gravel.

This isn’t the little creek.  It’s the edge of the field near the woods that the little creek runs through.  Our little creek swells into a very big creek now and then.   This was the flow just past dawn, but evidence in the garden indicates the creek was a good fifty feet wider sometime in the night.

The other little creek dumped a load of debris at the crossing, and it washed away an equal portion of dirt here and there.  It’ll be a while before anyone drives to the back field.

More debris got stuck in the fence by the driveway, and the force of the water behind it knocked the fence down.   Again.   We had that same problem two years ago.    Last time the water left more holes in the driveway.  This time, the holes were deeper.  I stepped in one that was about knee deep.

Yeah, you know that’d happen.  The geese can’t help themselves.  They’re always ready to swim, anytime, anywhere.  All they need is  five or six inches to float in — and those big holes I stepped in, pffft.  Not a problem.

Bebe, the farmcollie, learned her lesson during the last flash flood that ate the driveway.  She’s very cautious now about where she steps.

Of course, the cattle weren’t much help with the debris cleanup.  They pretended exhaustion and acted as if they’d had a rough night, what with all that thunder, lightning, hail, and flooding.  I found them lounging on the bank of the pond, chewing cud.  Lazy cows.  Eat, sleep, chew cud, repeat ad finitum.  What a life!

I spotted these brats sneaking around behind the barn.   I like to pretend I’m going to catch them, and they like to run back to their mamas in the barn and pretend they’d been there all along.