Lord Willing and the Creek Don't Rise

Recently we had heavy rains in the Corvallis area.  One particularly dark and rainy evening Gary put on his farmer jacket, cap, and with a shovel in his hand said "It is flooding out there, water is covering the gardening and is out across the lawn.  I need to dig out an area to try to release some water".  I felt like I was in a TV episode of Lassie?  The Waltons?  Not sure which one.  But it felt very dramatic and almost life threatening.

When I headed to work, Gary said "If the road by the house is flooded when you get back, you might need to park down the road a ways."  It occurred to me that all I had were my nurse clogs - no boots.  Luckily, over night the water receded and I didn't need boots.  But the next day I went to Good Will and was happy to find these, so I'm prepared if it happens again.

Once the sun was out I had Gary give me a water tour.  Part of it is he has a pond.  It is fed by water that travels from nearby hills, and through an underground culvert.  There are two small culverts that can redirect water to a creek if it gets too full.  Open them up was part of the flood control.  There is one more source of water that flows around the property, also from the hills, also goes into a creek.  This was the place that gets clogged and needed some digging out.  These creeks flow into Soap Creek and on into the Luckimute River which flows into the Willamette. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luckiamute_River)

It was a beautiful day while we were out.  I knew he grew hay for horses and was curious where it was.  He told me I was standing on it.  I said "It looks like grass."  He asked "What do you think hay is?".  He planted a combination of Timothy and Rye, and here is what it looks like:

Geese have been hanging out in Corvallis instead of flying further south, and it is causing problems as they eat away at fields.  Thousands of them.  Gary has his share on his pond, but Lola loves chasing them off.  Here she goes:

And here are the geese in flight, from Gary's pond:



Today was so cold they were sunning themselves in the field instead of swimming.  But warmer weather and rain will be coming back soon.  Maybe I'll get to wear my new boots.