'The River,’ corrected the Rat
‘And you really live by the river? What a jolly life!’
‘By it and with it and on it and in it,’ said the Rat.~From The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
Well we have lived by and with and on a river for quite some time, but now we are literally in it as well…and I can tell you, that is nothing to sneeze at.Howdy from soggy Pine Island!
It is a little hard to tell in the picture on the left, but that is not a river…it’s a main road through town!!! The rain started early Wednesday afternoon and has fallen steadily ever since. I think the current precipitation is around 8 or 9 inches with no let-up in the foreseeable future.
Roads all around us are completely washed out to the point where it is difficult to leave or enter Pine Island at all. I took the boys to work this morning and we marveled at all the water during the 15 minute drive. This afternoon, it took me over an hour to pick them up and bring them home. I had to drive miles out of the way to circumnavigate the worst of the flooding.
Even then, we had to cross the river twice over bridges that looked like they were floating. The boys spent much of the afternoon helping sand-bag in town and taking furniture out of a friend’s house. Please pray for folks who are trying to save their possessions from flooded basements. We are so thankful no one has been hurt.
All the fields in the immediate area are either lakes or surging floods. Our backyard had a small torrent gushing through it (above). Today I personally understood, for the first time, the phrase, happy as a duck in water. A neighbor of ours has ducks, and when we drove by on the way to town they were dabbling swimmingly. Now there was nothing so very remarkable in this aside from the contrasting fact that everyone else has become almost cat-like in our discomfort with all the surplus water. Ducks are “In their element”, but I think that Kenneth Graham hits the proverbial nail on the head again in his cheery nonsensical, yet profound fashion.
Ducks’ Ditty
‘All along the backwater,
Through the rushes tall,
Ducks are a-dabbling,
Up tails all.
‘Ducks’ tails, drake’s tails,
Yellow feet a-quiver,
Yellow bills all out of sight,
Busy in the river!
‘Slushy green undergrowth
Where the roach swim -
Here we keep our larder,
Cool and full and dim.
‘Everyone for what he likes!
We like to be
Heads down, tails up,
Dabbling free!
‘High in the blue above
Swifts whirl and call -
We are down a-dabbling,
Up tails all.’
The flood truly has a bright side as well in spite of all the damage done.
1. We were forced to have a short respite from farm projects, which always gives new enthusiasm when we resume operations.2. After looking at the forecast Wednesday, we decided to process the remaining chickens a day early. It was a mercy of God that we did. Thursday morning would have found the chickens all drowned, since the portion of the field where their pens still repose is under a foot of water. One customer did make it out this afternoon…he was very happy to relate his adventures in attempting the trip when he arrived and victoriously claimed his chickens!
3. The neighboring population turned out in force to repair damage and try to prevent more. Disaster always brings that camaraderie out in a community and it is often rewarding in spite of the difficulty, anxiety and even loss.
4. Now all the farmers in the area will have something truly exciting to discuss and digest over in the morning coffee groups for weeks on end. If you know the right people, you never miss out on the best information gleaned from what one of our “connections” calls a “support group for farmers.”
