Hermit Musings – Rainy Weekend

Is it strange to be actually looking forward to a land-locked weekend? We have a rainy weekend ahead of us, and we certainly do need it after the drought that just broke a couple of days ago. We’d gotten 2-3″, and it didn’t even get the creeks flowing. Most of the water soaked right into the ground, and I know the trees were happy. We could hear them singing the rain in on the wind the night before the first drops fell. And they’ve been quiet since, satisfied.

Floodwaters Receding

I began writing this post before the rains arrived. WhooBoy, they did arrive, a day or so delayed, and with gusto. In the end, we probably got over 10″ in a few days. This kind of volume leads to some pretty drastic flooding. I believe some areas got even more – closer to 15″.

The debris left behind is the only way I can tell how high the water got here. Quite a robust rainy weekend is required to get the water up this high. When the water gets this high in this spot down our road, we’d never be able to get here to see it.

There are two other low-water bridges to cross before this one. Those would have been well underwater if this one was high enough to flood.

These types of situations are when it’s good that I like a hermit lifestyle. Because there’s not much chance of going anywhere anyway, ha.

In 2015 we got an unexpected cloudburst close to midnight one night, and the rain came down all at once. That did cause a lot of damage. Landslide, flooding, and badly scared my parents, who’s camper almost washed downstream. With them in it. They were visiting up here and no weather forecast had given us a clue what was coming.

Rainy Weekend Floodwater Treasures

This morning I needed to go into the Berryville office to work a day of floor duty (with my real estate hat on). Our driveway is pretty badly washed out, nothing but rocks left behind after the sand went downstream. So the going was slow to the gate. A sandy mud pit awaited me at the first bridge.

I’d brought my muck boots with me just in case I had to get out of the car in such a place. And I was glad I did. There were some rocks I was afraid might hit the underside of my car, so I did have to get out while still parked in the mud just before the rocks.

While I was moving them out of the way so my car could more easily make it onto the bridges, I spied the first of my floodwater gifts.

Muddy or Not, There I Go

At this point, concern about getting my work clothes muddy dissipated. This is the rock that gives me a greenish earth pigment, and it’s one of the more difficult ones to find. In the end, I managed to get my rocks moved, and get my green rock without getting myself muddy in the process. I love finding good pigment rocks after a rainy weekend.

Thursday I’ll see what other bounties I can reap as rewards for our rainy weekend.

In a little while I might get a chance to post my waterfall excursion video to YouTube. My channel there is @wildozark, but I’ll come here to leave a link for it when I upload it. I hiked up it a bit more than I normally do, because the most beautiful part of it is higher.