Our 'dry' ditch...
Our "Tree Field", an acre that once was cropland. When we arrived here in the valley, we planted a stand of soft maples that has served as shade and rough pasture for the ponies. I walked straight ahead through 4" of watery slush, almost (and what turned out to be) too much for my snow boots. Driveway is on the right, the valley's drainage ditch on my left.
The snow (ice) dams not strong enough to hold back the flowing water.
The rain and snow pellets were soaking through my jacket, the water was slowly seeping into my boots but it was still hypnotic to stand here, watching and listening to the flow.
Note the leaned fence post on the end of the orange; we had some big winds before the ground was frozen. The orange netting truly acts as a sail. The winter fence did serve its purpose however. There is a huge pile of snow on this side of it.
I'm standing about 10 feet from where the car was stuck the other day....again, the visible water drains from our hills, the valley's water is (so far) contained in the ditch where the trees are. The two converge just to the right of the image.
A good day to brew some tea and read a book.....more on that book in my next Post.
You know what they say, there's no bad weather just bad clothing but I can imagine that the slush, and all the water would be a challenge for any weatherproof gear. Well, at least melting has started...
ReplyDeleteSonja, you are right. I stubbornly wore my "chore clothes" and they aren't up to the waterproof task. The kitties accompany me down to the flow and they aren't de-clawed.
ReplyDeleteThese posted images were taken early this morning; I just got back in the house from another exploratory mission. The almost constant 35 degrees is a true gift; the melting slow and so far, the valley is able to keep up. Our worst enemy during these melting episodes is a 50 degree day.
The ice is becoming porous....finally some relief from glass-smooth.
Thank you for that heavenly sound and sight. All I hear in this motel is highway noises 24/7.
ReplyDeleteIt truly is pleasant at this level. On those warm days that feel so nice, the sound gets more ferocious. We can tell from the house that our little stream is striving to be the Colorado.
DeleteThe melt means spring isn't far off. Still curling up with a cup of tea & a book is a great way to drift though a winter day. Do you think you had more or less snow than in previous years?
ReplyDeleteDar, it's so hard to really nail Average down. I know we've had a more stout winter than last year, but that one was exceptionally mild. My guess is that we're closer to the middle range of winter totals in snow accumulation. Our mid-winter rainfall was an aberration and i'm really wondering if that hasn't a lot to do with our surface mud. Mud this early, with the coolish temps we've had just isn't right. IIRC, frost depth averages (very general, so location specific) are between 30-36" deep. Our water lines are 6' to avoid trouble.
DeleteWe drove in to town to pick up some groceries and waded through water that had gone down, but at the top of the driveway, through mud that had gotten deeper.
Spring in the rurals I guess.....before long the buds will be on the trees and I won't remember this. It is snowing now. :)
Coop - the 'dry ditch' isn't looking so dry! I know that where I live we received over 20cm more than the average snowfall for February ... but it has begun to melt, and yes, leave mud behind. I will have to watch the video when I return home as the hotel internet isn't very cooperative here in NYC. Here's hoping the melt is slow and steady and you escape any spring flooding. I live at the top of a hill so flooding isn't usually a problem (except in my 200 year old cellar which gets a bit wet when the water table rises, but then it just flows out as quickly as it flows in.)
ReplyDeleteKaren - I hope that the last thing you're worrying about is flooding while there in the Big City. Have fun and thanks for checking up on things West (well, half way)!
ReplyDeleteI remember melting and mud and washed out roads. Loved the line in your comment to Martha, "We can tell from the house that our little stream is striving to be the Colorado." Very nice.
ReplyDelete~Keith
Keith, thanks. We had 5+ inches overnight, on top of deep mud, just about the worst conditions. I think it would have been better ad we been dumped upon with a foot of snow.
DeleteAll that melting snow sure creates a mess does't it? Drinking tea and watching the water sounds like a perfect idea on a day like that.
ReplyDeleteBut it will be nice if you guys don't have a drought this summer.
Trobairitz, we were way behind last summer though very locally, our crops, yards and gardens had just enough rain at the right times to actually keep things green enough or in the case of the local corn crop, very successfully green!
DeleteKnow that we need it makes it hard to watch it all flow away.
Coop:
ReplyDeleteIf I understand this, you are saying that you have to drive through that "little River" to get to the main road?
Seems like a deep lake to have to go through. Hope your engines doesn't stall half way . . .
You have a lot of land, I like your privacy. We are getting rain again, forecast is for about 1" per day for the next 4 days
bob
Riding the Wet Coast
Bob, during the 'events' that is what happens. We've driven through a foot of water when we had to, not more than that with the cars. Once Peg and the kids came home from a big class music recital. I waded across, went and got the tractor with loader bucket on the front and hauled them across, w/instruments in their good clothes to higher ground.
DeleteIt's easy to be cocky and potentially careless. Others in these valleys have driven through raging water and have been washed away. We need to be careful since we're not always sure what the base is like......is the concrete slab still there or not?
These videos show a relatively calm flow; we've had much worse.
We're down to 20 acres now, though this farm had 162 when my great grandfather came over from Germany and bought it in 1884. I always said it wasn't so much that we owned all of those acres around us, rather that someone else did not. In other words, privacy and we've placed a very high value on it.
I just got in from (trying) to remove last night's 5+ inches of new snow that was on top of our mud. It is not an easy task and our driveway is even more of a woeful mess than it was. I Think we'll get out in the morning........