Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Where did the Water go?

Boy!! Let me tell you; it has really been dry here. Wish I could have gotten as much rain this summer as the folks at the Terlingua Ranch did. We had rain all around us, on all four sides and at the corners, too. Yes, we got a sprinkle or two, but if I was younger and quick enough, I could have run between the drops. Even got between the rain bands on the tropical storm that is going on now.

Don’t believe me? Do you remember my old blog, titled “My Swamp”? If not, take a look. See all that water and it wasn’t completely full. Yesterday afternoon, I took a walk around my property and took some pictures. This one shows what was originally the deepest part of the swamp until I dug a deeper place.

That area on the right of the picture where you see grass, that is normally under water. Can you make out what looks like a path or trail? That is where the coons, possums, nutria, and other animals used to walk along the edge of the water when it was at average height. It gets a lot higher than that, but that path is about normal.

I then zoomed in some on the turtle in the middle of the shallow puddle that used to be a pond:
Can’t see it? How about now?
Above, I told you about a deeper part that I dug out. Yep, one summer it was really, really dry. In fact, the whole dang swamp dried up and I was going to start planting cacti, but it was too dry for them.

My son borrowed a big Massey Ferguson with a front end loader that I could use to dig out the swamp. Here are two pics of the tractor; it is a little heftier than my Farmall 200:
I dug down until I couldn’t see out of the hole, and hit grey clay. Got to the place where I had to use the front end loader to help push me out of the hole. That meant dumping the load. Didn’t take me too long to figure out that it was deep enough. You know, a few trips out empty sort of gave me a clue.

OK, here is a picture of that “hole”. Compare it to the old blog I mentioned above.
This is a haven for the bass.

When I walked the rear of my property, I took a picture of one of the huge Oak trees that hurricane Ike took down. I hung my hat to where the top of my head would have been. This gives you an idea of size. Picture me standing under that hat.

I want to change the subject. I was a wondering how many of you, when you leave a comment, come back later to see if I had answered it? I try to answer every one, but I am sure some have slipped through un-answered.

Let me know. Thanks.








13 comments:

  1. Only issue I see with your borrowed tractor to dig out the pond? You needed a box blade on back,, works wonders dragging dirt out, Front end loaders are handy but for pond digging really need a box blade .

    So? you got to be gittin some of this rain moving up from down south, Right?

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  2. In answer to your question.....NO.
    Hee hee hee, jist mess'n wit ya. I always come back if I post a comment that needs an answer. I usually don't post an answer on my blog unless it's a special comment....but you can bet your bippy I read them all.
    I've ask that same question many times....to myself.

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  3. Ben, all the rain bands are south-west of me. In fact, they just gave a tornado warning for Waller county. Maybe later we will get some.

    Hey BB, thanks for the reply to my question. Guess today is the big golf game with the OFM. Have a good time.

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  4. Hey Dizzy...
    I always try and go back to see if I get a reply to my comments, but even if I don't...I still enjoy leaving them!

    I figure everyone has better things to do, other than respond to my dribble, ya know?

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  5. I usually don't come back to check comments but I almost always click on the "subscribe by email" option. That way, I can read other comments left after mine on all the blogs I follow.

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  6. Howdy Jim, I don't think it is dribble.

    SciFi, thanks for stopping by and answering my question.

    By the way, I am just now getting rain. I hope we get enough so that that bass in my swamp don't leave dust trails. . .

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  7. When I get a reply on my blog, it's like finding the golden ticket. When there isn't a reply, I figure I must have written some dribble that one one can comprehend. Then again, I only have a few people who read my blog anyway, so it's not like I'm hitting big numbers here. I'm in the single digits, and that's fine by me.

    Either way, I always check to see who's replied.

    I know what lack of rain feels like. Here in Australia we've been in drought conditions for just on 20 years. We had water restrictions apply to every one. Our dams are too far out from the coast. So the solution they wasted money on was desalination plants on the coast. Which have proven to only provide an extra 20% capacity at best.

    With many people like my friends who sit in the shower for more than 20 minutes, wasting hot water, an thus wasting electricity that heats that water too, I'm sure there are many people like him who waste a lot of resources and don't think once about it.

    I hope the rain you're getting gives you something. Do you have water tanks that capture runoff from the roof? When I build my new home it'll have massive tanks connected to the guttering.

    Cheers
    pip

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  8. I had a good look at That Sitting Turtle and was wondering if it's related at all to The Flying Tortoise because there is a family resemblance don't you think DD...

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  9. DD, I do like SciFiChick and subscribe by email to blogs I post on so I'll get any comments even if it is for old threads.

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  10. Im inconsistant with my comments, sometimes I check a blog and comment then I will miss it for a while depending on what I clicked on my computer to screw it up. <---still challenged

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  11. Howdy Pipsqeek, glad to hear from you and your reply to my question. On the rain, we had a good rain today. I want to let you know that where I live in Texas, the normal rainfall is about 5 feet or more. It is not uncommon to get 6 to 10 inches in a day, so water collection is not necessary. I have a well that is only 120 feet deep. But we do have localized dry spells. Like I said, just a few miles down the road, they had plenty of rain this last month and I didn't.

    Hey FT, I went back and checked, but this turtle wouldn't fly, it just flopped back into the water.

    Hi tffnguy, how does that email thing work. Will it tell you that I replied to your comment? That is what I was wondering, if after you leave a comment on someone's blog, do you check to see if the comment was commented on. OK, now I'm getting dizzy. . .

    Nick, thanks for stopping by. I know what you mean, my fingers don't always land on the right keys and even if they did, I can't. spell worth a darn. Hey, how much is a darn worth?

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  12. DD, anytime you subscribe to a thread by email then you will get an email with any comments anyone make to that thread no matter how old the thread is. Or until you unsubscribe to it. Bad part is that if you or someone else posts a comment and then decide to delete it for what ever reason then all of the people that are subscribed have already got it by email so... Don't say anything you might regret later. This is the internet after all. ;)

    BTW I got your comment by email so that's why you got my reply comment.

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  13. Thanks David, I have a lot to learn. Trouble is, I got a thick head :)

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