I am Grateful

Storms make trees take deeper roots.   -Dolly Parton

March 13, looking south., ground level.

I look out at all the water, and I think "This is going to be a mess when it recedes, but it is so worth it for the trees." They are getting their first real drink in about four years. and that is worth everything. This morning when I walked out on the back porch, I could hear the sound of the water rushing under the flood gates on the other side of the river. Our own little Niagra. 

When I got up, and was making coffee, before it really got light, I heard ducks. I saw a drake and two girls yesterday, swimming in to check things out. In 2011 I had a Great Blue Heron walking around in this same area. 

March 13, looking south west., ground level.

The messy part is that a pile of fire wood, that we thought was to heavy to topple, did. So when I looked down yesterday afternoon and saw a bunch of wood floating slowly north, it took a minute - then I looked left and sure enough that pile was gone. We have huge tree trunks bobbing their way north too. The elliptical shape lower left of the photo above is about a third of a tree trunk, and just like ice burgs. a lot of it is submerged. 

March 13, looking west., ground level.

This shot is looking west. You can see a few logs floating in the water. Happy trees. After the water recedes, and the ground dries out a bit, Fred and I will both be stacking wood to take up to the biomass plant in Woodland. 

March 13, looking north west., ground level.

By tomorrow, as the water begins to crest this area should be under water too. I am not sure how much. The last time it came in it did so so fast that I woke up and was surrounded by water. We had about two days warning. We scrambled. I get to watch it happen this time which is a luxury. I find the whole process fascinating. The air smells wonderful, the birds are happy, the trees are glowing. Spring is going to be explosive!

Tomorrow should be the crest. 

Addition to March 12, 2016

Just a video I took this morning for the friends that don't do FB. which apparently won't work on this blog. BUMMER. FB: 

https://www.facebook.com/mary.ferris.378

March 12, 2016. about 10 am.

More Water

All water has a perfect memory and is forever trying to get back to where it was.   - Toni Morrison

March 12, 2016

I am glad I know what to expect. The first time the water came into the yard like this was a Christmas Eve in 2010. I knew it was going to happen, but having never experienced it before, I was in awe. it was about 2:00 am, and i was coming back from the bathroom, looking down from the house. Then I noticed some dark shapes moving around down in this same open space. Raccoons! It had just flowed in when I saw them. Mom was looking for grubs and other goodies. The two kits, however, were having a blast playing in the water. It was one of the best Christmas presents ever.

March 12, 2016

If you have been here, then you know that the property goes left and right for about 150 ft. This year we are only getting about 6 inches to a foot of water to cover it all. I am grateful for the trees. The clean up however can be labor intensive, but not as time sensitive as this up surge was. The wind usually blows in from the south west which is about where the flood gates are. Any thing that floats is likely to get blown in, pushed around and possibly deposited when the water recedes.Just as a reference: The house sits at a diagonal to the cardinal point on a compass. The corners are North, South, East and West. 

Onward and upward.  

Up a little more.

There is no forgiveness in nature. -Ugo Betti

3-11-16, Looking west from the back steps. 

The little area of turned soil is home to snap peas, arugula, garlic, and red onions. The peas and arugula have been in about two weeks. Did not plan on them being underwater for a week or more. Poor things. 

We were down graded from 24 ft crest to 32.5, which is great. Six inches in the garage means I don't have to move the washer and refrigerator out. Everything is up on blocks. . 

More tomorrow. ;-)

Water UP

The river flows at its own sweet will, but the flood is bound in the two banks. If it were not thus bound, its freedom would be wasted. -Vinoba Bhave

March 7. 2016

The water has risen and will continue to rise until it breaches the first bank, then climbs up the second and begins its trip around the house and into the garage.  This is the result of a good rainy season, and snow melt. Warm rain melts snow. Most of these actions are just physics. 

This is the same shot from the same place on the
bank thecircle is all you can see of the little bush.
The arrow points to the left fork of the tree above,
  The arrow is pointing to the part at the top of the
picture frame that is actually out of site above.

It is also part of how things work for humans to put off some of the last minutes things until they absolutely have to do them. I had about 1/2 of the stuff up, and because of the draught and the mis forecasting that has been occurring as of late, I certainly did not think we would be getting enough water to concern me. OOPS. 

The Sacramento river is now expected to crest at somewhere around 24 feet which puts a foot of water around my house. This means that both Fred, my landlord and I have already spent two days getting things up. Now there is the task of moving my washer, garage fridge, and other big heavy item that cannot be submerged at all to higher ground. And this will be happening tomorrow instead of Saturday as we had planned. It is a lot of work, but it forces both of us to liquidate stuff. Here are some photos to give you reference points. 

To the right of the hummingbird feeder at the bank
is whereI stand to take the photo of the tree
and little bush.  I am standing, for this shot, on
the third step from the bottom of my back stairs. 

What you see across the river are the flood gates for the Yolo bypass. The bridge has a two lane road, and a train track that runs to and from Woodland. 

It a couple of days the water will be a long expanse of water and the flood gates will remain closed. However there is a drop-off on the other side so some of the water will flow under the gates and sound like a waterfall. Stay Tuned! ;-)

There is a stump to the left  in the photo
 above, and I have Agapanthas planted here.
Usually it is a 15 foot drop to the water.
This is looking straight down. 

Slowly down again

In rivers, the water that you touch is the last of what has passed and the first of that which comes; so with present time.

-- Leonardo da Vinci  

The river rises and it falls. I wish it revealed more, changed more things. Water movement means change. I think that is universal. We wait to see what it will do.

Just the bush this time because this one little bush shows the change in the river better than the long shots anyway. It is hard to see  in the first photo, but the bush is about 10 inches from being submerged, however in the subsequent pictures you can easily see that is not the case. It will reappear and then with the next rain it will begin to disappear under the water again. 

January 23, 2016

January 24, 2016

January 25, 2016

Slow rise

Any river is really the summation of the whole valley. To think of it as nothing but water is to ignore the greater part. — (Hal Borland, This Hill, This Valley)

This valley did, at one time, flood. It is part of the natural cycle here. It is what made the soil rich and fertile. But it was inconvenient. So levees and dams were put in place to control it. But the truth is one cannot stop water, and it is infinitely patient. Every once in a while it reminds us of that. 

January 21, 2016

 

January 22, 2016

January 21, 2016

January 22, 2016

 

River update

Here, on the river's verge, I could be busy for months without changing my place, simply leaning a little more to right or left.

Paul Cezanne

Every morning I have a routine: I get up, make coffee, feed the cats, feed the dog, and then Chalupa and I go for a walk so that he can do his business and I can see what is going on in the yard. I pull a few weeds, make some mental notes. But I always stand on this same bank and watch the river flow by. It is never the same. Higher or lower, brown after a storm, a perfect mirror some mornings, others choppy because the wind is up. It renews my spirit. Then we walk back to the house, I pull a few more weeds, do a bit of pruning, on and on. With a large yard it never stops. But the river flows by completely unaware of me, or anything that is going on. After all it is the river, it is busy doing what the river does, reminding me that I am just a small part of what is going on. 

Between storms, January 18, 2016

Windy, January 19, 2016

Foggy, January 20, 2016

The water is this high, The bush is reflected in the water and I am standing on the bank. January 20, 2016

Rain, Rain, Come on down.

It's a relief to hear the rain. It's the sound of billions of drops, all equal, all equally committed to falling, like a sudden outbreak of democracy. Water, when it hits the ground, instantly becomes a puddle or rivulet or flood.

Alice Oswald

I love the rain. Even knowing that it can mean a flood where I live, I still love the rain. I think it is because I am so tuned in to the plants and animals around me. I can feel them shouting "Yes, yes, yes! 

Living on a river means that the rain changes it too. It is not so much the rain right here, but the rain that falls in Northern California, and the way the streams, creeks, small rivers feed the Sacramento River, and the American River. Eventually it rises. Most of the time it rises a little, sometimes it rises a lot, and occasionally it rises over the banks and surrounds the house with water. This year because of the drought I believe we are safe. but I will be posting the rise here, and on my FB Page.  Yesterday first, and today, second at about 8 am.  And yes, that is a tree floating by in the second shot. 3/4 of it is probably under water. 

Breakthroughs Afoot

I don't know about all of you, but 2015 has been a hell of a year, with a few more challenges than usual. I am not going to go into the long list, boring.

But Tomorrow, I have the opportunity to get my CDL back. Driving test only at 10:00 am. I am more than ready. I have found however that I don't miss driving all that much, I do miss the freedom.

So today, no quote, no image just a hopeful announcement.

M