What Lies Beneath

This year has been the wettest year that I can remember.  It started with a wet October in 2009.  The pastures were keeping up really well and it was a pretty “perfect” fall.  Then the snow fell, kept falling and fell some more.  When the thaw came in the spring, normal flooding occured but didn’t stop like it usually would.  “April showers bring May flowers”, but we were under water.  No flowers.  June came and the rain kept coming.  This is the Missouri River in June near Platte, SD.

Platte Creek State Park Parking Lot

Being Watchful For Under Water Obstacles

July then August, same situation.  I wasn’t worried about the pasture drying up and going dormant like it usually would in July.  HaHa.  Now it’s September 22nd, and the forecast is for up to 3″ of rain in the next 48 hours.

Where once were fields of corn and beans, looks more like a place where rice would grow.

Once Was A Corn Field

Miles and miles of water.  I can only imagine what the terrane must look like from the air.  Highways and roads closed for months at a time due to flooding

Water On Both Sides For Miles

and I have only experienced a small percentage of what others have endured.  Flooded property, flooded basements, homes being destroyed, cattle drowning, raw sewage being dumped into the Sioux River because of too much water and broken sewer pipes.  South Dakotan’s have it good compared to some parts of the nation and world!  Is this extreme wet year an indication of a winter packed with constant snow?  The squirrels have aerated my yard unlike any other year.  They buried a walnut about every 3′.  Never have I seen this many holes.  I thought moles had invaded.

With rain comes erosion, disease, mud, equine “scratches”, bugs galore, dormant wet lands in bloom, pasture production or dry lot mess.  Old barbed wire and metal debris make their way to the surface, surprise.  Noticing punctures and cuts on my horses, I ask myself, “where did that come from?”  Oh ya, I answer myself, they have been wading in the mud.

Yesterday, debris removal was in progress.  A friend and I pulled roughly 40′ of old buried barbed wire, 4 wood posts and 1 steel post out of the ground.  While preparing a new pasture area for the horses and pony, we found debris from tornadoes, remnants of farming from the past, spiders, ground squirrel mounds and rocks… large rocks.  Hmmm, maybe I could sell the rocks for landscaping….?

Today, trying to get some pasture chores done before more rain came, what appeared to be tall grass and a little water became a big mess quickly.

Burried

Knowing that quick sand exists in South Dakota, I’m always a bit cautious in areas along the Missouri and White Rivers.  Not so much the case in the Sioux Falls area, but today an area that looked wet but solid, ended up being soft like butter.  Tractor went down, buried up to its axels.  Oops.

Little Ford tractor meet BIG International tractor!  Thankfully with the help of another friend, the little tractor pulled out of the mud like a knife through butter.

Get'n Ur Done!

I’d like to think that this will be the last “stuck tractor” experience, but I probably haven’t learned my lesson yet.  I have yet to deal with it and snow…….

Shortly after we pulled the little tractor out, lightening  struck and it was time to head inside.  Back at the house, the sky looked like a monsoon

Looking To The East

and the rain came in sheets with wind blowing.  I’m sure glad that it is in the 60’s and not freezing!

SD Rain, September 22, 2010

September Rain