Ancestors?

I am pretty sure this little guy's family has lived on the mountain much longer than mine.......

misleading photo......

I would love to title this photo DOG IN THE DESERT..........

But in actuality, it is just my dog Teddy, standing in the front yard where we have cleared about 45 years worth of brush and I haven't replanted with grass seed yet.

The Path of Water

I really REALLY want to be writing about something other than rain. Unfortunately, that is all I have at the moment. More water than I need, and more water than this place can contain, but I am hesitant to complain, because I know with true conviction that Arkansas summers can be brutal and in a matter of months, I will find myself longing for it with fond memories. So, with this knowledge, I am trying to concentrate on the beauty and mystery of it all.......and just be extra cautious where I step and drive.

Back in the day, the Little River Band came out with a beautiful song that I always felt was just for me, even though obviously I knew it wasn't. The title was "Cool Change" and it was about an Aquirus (like me) and the importance water played in his life. "I was born in the sign of water, and its there that I feel my best...........". I completely "got it" when I lived on the Gulf Coast and found I could stare at the ocean for endless amounts of time and never lose my fascination with it. The sense of peace and calm it brought were very therapeutic.

Maybe that is what I am trying to recapture with my little pond project here....who knows? I suppose I don't get upset about the mess that this is right now because I look at it and see, not what it is right now, but what it will be one day soon. And that mental image takes be back to the days sitting by the water on the beach.

So indulge me through these little challenges that make the story more interesting. I PROMISE......a thing of beauty will be at the end of the story.

Early Monday morning, this was the stream flowing out of the hole that was put into the side of the pond to prevent it from overflowing. As water will always do, it took the path of least resistance.....down the bank into the ditches that run along the sides of my narrow steep driveway.

And as the morning progressed, so did the water. The ditches soon overflowed and water and debris flowed down the mountain and it spilled out over the road.

Had the stream's path not chosen to cross the middle of our road, I might have had more appreciation of this natural occurrence. But even despite this, there is a certain elegance about it all.

The sun is out this morning and I am about to take my morning exploration walk to see what has changed overnight. As I told my sister yesterday, there is nothing wrong here than can't be fixed with a bull dozer and some sunshine.

Wish the rest of life were so simple!

More of the Same........

Wish I had something new to report, but once again, it is a cold, rainy, stormy Sunday afternoon on the mountain.

The floor of the pond was not finished when the torrential rains came two weeks ago, which definitely complicated things. Last week, because of the possibility of an overflow eroding the new, very steep outer bank, Sammy had to come with the dozer during a brief break in the rain to knock a hole in one of the smaller banks to give the water a place to drain off. So, right now, this unprecedented weather has provided us with a large muddy containment area with banks so slippery that staying upright while walking them is quite the challenge. So far, so good!

Enormous Amounts of Rain

To give you an idea how much rain we have had here on the mountain, the picture below was taken on April 21st, 2011.

This following picture was taken April 27th, 2011.

This dark area on the left side of the pond is not a mini-BP oil spill. It is debris blown into the pond from the high winds.
The muddy water is a combination of enormous amounts of rain pounding soft fresh earth and a muddy pond bed. We have a series of unfortunate events at the moment........all of which can be repaired when the rains stop and the sun comes out.

Stuck in the Mud, Exhibit #2

My husband returned from the beautiful tropical climates of Miami, Puerto Rico and the Dominican to an unprecedented six consecutive days of torrential downpours, sustained winds up to 60 mph and tornado sirens blaring throughout the nights. He described the amount of water we have received as "Biblical proportions" and said the weather reminded him of hurricane seasons during our ten years living on the Gulf Coast. Big difference though.....hurricanes PASS THROUGH. This stuff doesn't seem to be going anywhere!!!

And, those of you who know me well will not be surprised at all to learn we are right in the middle of a major excavation project up here on the mountain. Lots of clearing, digging, rearranging of earth........which, combined with an enormous amount of water = MUD! Mud everywhere..........more mud than you can possibly imagine and as far as the eye can see.

I am a klutz. No big secret there. Everyday walking for me is an adventure. So, picture if you can my early morning walks, through the mud to see what the previous night's storms have brought. Every step looks like this!
If I step too quickly, the sucking power of the mud is much stronger that I am and I step right out of my boots. However, if I linger a fraction of a second too long, I just sink deeper. So walking through this is a very delicate balance..........but a fun challenge, nevertheless!

Mudding is NOT Fun!

Last Friday afternoon, every vehicle you see in this photo was STUCK in the mud in my yard!
The stump grinder's big yellow machine got bogged down in the mud. We got my black 4-wheel drive truck to pull it out. My front tires got stuck in the mud. So we got the stump grinder's green 4-wheel drive truck. Both driver's side wheels buried up in the mud. Then we got Dennis 4-wheel drive side-by-side to try to pull it out...........you know where this is going.
Fortunately, the man in charge of this project is the sweetest guy EVER. He left his daughter's track meet to come up here and pull us all out with his bull dozer.
I sort of expected him to ban me from proceeding with any projects without his supervision. But I got off with just a "look"........you know, the kind of look a parent gives a child who has really screwed up and should have known better.