Life Isn't Landscaping

back creek drought
Originally uploaded by Contrary Goddess.

I want to tell you about the drought. But what do I say? It didn’t rain in June at all, and it was dry then. In July we had about normal rain, as I remember it anyway. At least we had some rain. And since then, almost nothing. And temperatures in the 90s most every day of August and September and even into October. We’ve had a mist a couple times in October, and maybe one sprinkle. There was water in a puddle after one sprinkle.

Our big huge creeks are trickles now, but we’re thankful they are still flowing. A lot of them aren’t. People have ponds to water their cattle . . . and they are dry. Virginia farmers (and the state through grants) spent a lot of money in the last few years fencing cattle out of creeks and putting in water systems based on either RAM pumps or springs . . . and they are dry. In some places, it is so dry the roots of the grasses are dying.

We’ve kept some things going in the garden by watering. Our corn and potatoes, staple crops, made before it got so bad. But there are no fall seedbeds because it was too hot and too dry (even with watering) for them to germinate.

Our springs have stopped flowing. One isn’t entirely dry. We haul water from the creek. We bathe in the creek and have for months now. We take a load of laundry when we visit the in-laws and bring it home to hang it out. We don’t flush. We don’t mop the floor . . . well, unless we first haul water up from the creek. You might can imagine how this adds time to tasks like washing dishes, even if you have the water already up here -- you have to heat it and set up the dish pan and two sinks and wash them from cleanest to dirtiest. I can do pretty much a whole day of dishes on about 3 gallons of water but it takes some coordination. And we still cook from scratch because with food going up so much, who could afford not to? But we aren’t above resorting to the occasional use of paper plates.

Our animals are on the pasture we usually use in January. We’ll buy our first bale of hay this week and feel lucky that our supplier, a good old boy neighbor, is keeping 300 head of cattle on his other farm and says that as long as he has hay, we’ll have hay. Of course, it’ll cost about half again as much as it did the last few years. And that's if he's easy on us. I’ve never actually seen the goats hungry before. They are now. As soon as it is cool, we’ll start killing them.

It is so bad that some people are cutting trees so their cattle can eat the leaves. Of course, the leaves are about gone now. They say they try to cut a good tree so they can get a saw log out of it, and some firewood from what the cows don’t eat.

People do not understand. Hell, I don’t understand. I just know. I know that you just deal with it and you don’t complain and that life is always about change. You aren’t owed anything.

And you might starve to death.

I don’t believe anybody but me realizes that because if they did, they’d live differently. Ok, maybe there are one or two other people who get it too.

Which, it started raining, ever so lightly, Monday. Today there is a little more vigor in the precipitation. It is supposed to continue through Friday at least. This is very good. This is more rain than we’ve had in four months. We’re still at half what is normal for the year, and we were already behind then. Still, it is good. With a little water and warm temperatures, the grass will grow still. So will radishes and spinach and the like. Beets and turnips for late greens and early roots in the spring.

And tomorrow we will finally get to visit with my best friend and family!