They keep telling us it's going to flood around here, so I'm waiting. I drove around and took some pictures to see how close we are to the flood coming. The river is rising, but it doesn't seem to be there yet. We'll see if it really happens.
What you see above is an area in one of the fields that never seemed to dry up after the flood a couple of years ago. It's a little bigger after all this rain we keep getting and getting and getting. When it finally does warm up a bit I expect all sorts of water birds. I can't get pictures of them though because this is right on the highway.
Just past those trees in the background is the river. It's not the biggest river right through here, but it's not exactly small either. As I found out before, when it floods it can wipe out the whole area. I'm glad I live on pretty high ground and I have a back way out, otherwise I'd be trapped.
There is so much rain that the ground just can't absorb any more. There are huge puddles of water in every field between the highway and the river. I have to say that I'm not very worried that it will flood. The conditions are different than last time. But there is a very real possibility. We'll find out in a few days.
I kept saying before how I'm going to go out to the nature parks a lot more again this year, unlike the past couple of years. My problem so far is that it's been raining non-stop for the past few weeks. Spring got here very late, but when it got here all we get is rain.
Maybe I should go out anyway. I used to go out in all sorts of weather. I didn't care about the rain. Here it seems like one trip to a nature park is more of a big deal than it was where I used to live. Maybe I need to get over that way of thinking.
I'll have to think about all of this between now and my next post. Either I'm going to have some new pictures of nature trails for you, and maybe some cool stuff in with them, or I'll be showing you pictures of the flood. Floods are interesting. We'll see what happens. I'll talk to you later.
I took these photos you see today while driving home in the rain on Wednesday. Most of our snow has melted away for now, and it is much warmer than it was just a week before. I wanted some spectacular views of the hills to show you, but the weather just isn't cooperating right now.
I had these grand plans to show you some of the sights I saw when I came this way a couple of weeks ago, but the rain and the dark clouds obscured everything in sight. I still am determined to share these pictures with you. I took them while I was driving because I didn't want to stop and get out of the truck in the rain.
You may also have noticed that I've been posting much more often recently. That's because I've discovered a new motivation for blogging. Well, not exactly a new motivation, but I think I may have recaptured some of that same feeling I had when I first began blogging.
I'm not even sure I understand it, but my enthusiasm that was lost at the time of my car accident has somehow returned to some of its old self, at least for now. I still haven't fully recovered from the accident, but maybe I can get back to blogging on most days again.
I've even been able to find the time to answer all the comments here individually for the last several posts. I've always been a fan of answering comments. I make sure I go back and check all the blogs where people answer their comments. It really makes things much more fun, even though it can become time consuming for a blogger to do it. I wish I would have never stopped answering my comments before.
But I have a serious problem that might just ruin my plans of returning to my old blogging self. There is something seriously wrong with my computer! The monitor keeps blinking on and off into sleep mode, and I can't usually get it to come out of it. My keyboard that I've had for years has stopped working, so I'm having a difficult time typing anything right now.
My internet connection even died on me the other day, so I had to have a guy from my internet company come out and replace my modem yesterday. It was really good service, so I didn't miss a beat there. But it seems that everything is falling apart all at once on me. I have plenty of computer parts, but they're all still in Michigan. So right now I don't know what I'll do if I can't get this machine working right again.
So what I'm going to do is take the weekend off from posting in an attempt to get this computer working right again. I'll still be around to answer comments when I can and to visit some of your blogs as well.
Before I go this time, I'd like to point you over to Rat Tales where I have a story of five episodes currently ongoing. It's called "Fair", and I'm very proud of it. I think it may be my best yet. The fourth episode will come out Monday morning. I compare this dark tale to something you might see on the old Twilight Zone TV show.
I'll be back here Monday with something that's still a mystery to me, but I hope it will be new and interesting. I guess we'll find out then.
When I stepped outside I saw a few raindrops, but I didn't want to let it bother me. It had been awhile since I had been back to my old favorite park that is so close to home. I've been traveling far away lately, so my favorite park has gone neglected.
I looked to the sky to the west to make sure this was a wise thing for me to do on this day. Even though there was a hint of rain the sky looked as if it was going to clear up. Besides, right after a rainy day is a great time to go to a nature park because that's when nobody else is there.
The sky stayed the same on my way there, but with a few more raindrops on the windshield of my truck. I still thought the rain wouldn't bother me very much. And even if it did, I would be in under the trees. If it began to really rain very much I would be protected as if I had a roof over my head. I would have plenty of time to get out of this smaller hiking park.
It still looked okay as I walked through the forest towards the middle of the park where the fishing platform and the lake waited for me. It had become a little darker, but there was not much more rain falling. I still believed it would end soon.
My only problem now was that the darkening sky was creating even more darkness in the forest, so my camera was laboring to get pictures of anything I tried. Darkness and cameras just don't agree much, especially when there are so many changing shadows.
I still was glad of the long walk through this park. Like I said, it had been awhile since I had been here, and I missed the place. I made a few stops along the way, but I soon made my way the the fishing platform. But that's when it began to rain just a bit.
I saw this rain on the lake as an opportunity to bring you another episode of Rat TV. This shows the gentle rain that began to fall while I was standing there on the wood planks of the fishing platform. Lucky for me that there is a large tree that hangs over the platform and keeps any rain away from that spot.
As I looked on, the rain began to increase a bit. So I decided to wait it out for a few minutes. I went back to the bench and took a seat and put my camera away. I regretted that I wasn't catching this more increased rain, but I wanted to make sure my camera was protected.
After a few more minutes the rain began to slow just a hair, but only just, so I decided it was time to think about leaving. As I walked back up the stairs to leave I thought it was a shame to leave in such a hurry. The rain wasn't getting through the treetops yet, so I decided to walk towards the back of the park instead. I'd be okay.
I walked towards the back as the rain increased again. I now knew I could only go to the back of the forest. There was no way I would go farther because my camera would become too exposed to the elements without the protection of the trees.
I made it to the meadow area in the back, but only to the edge. The rain was coming down too much for me now. I still looked out and saw that they had come and moronically mowed the place! Why would they do such a thing at a nature park? No pictures out here from me though. I was getting wet.
I turned back to the forest and decided it was time to move a little more quickly because not only had the rain increased quite a bit more, but there was now thunder rumbling ever closer. I even began to see a few flashes of lightning. It was time to walk faster. No running yet though because the rain still wasn't getting through, much.
When I got to the small bridge that led to the path leading back to the way out the forest finally couldn't hold the rain out anymore. I had to put the camera under my shirt. There was a lot of rain coming down in here, but I could hear that it was now pouring outside the forest. It was decision making time.
I decided that when I reached the edge of the forest I would have to make a run for it. I didn't mind the rain, but my camera needed to be dry. It was a long way from the forest's edge to the parking lot and my truck, so I was going to have to prepare myself so I wouldn't get too tired. I kept only to a swift walk until then. No more pictures.
I got to the edge and I broke into a fast run all the way to my truck. I felt glad that I could unlock it with the little device on my keychain. I was soaked by the time I reached the truck. Rain was pouring down all around me. As soon as I got into the truck it increased enough that I couldn't see out the windows!
I uncovered the camera from beneath my shirt and saw that it was thankfully mostly dry. I sat there watching the rain begin to flood the area just a little bit. It rained like that for the rest of the day. I left the camera in the truck to keep it dry.
The skies are now sunny and bright. The rains of the past two weeks is finally gone. My camera is fine. But I won't become a fool in the rain again any time soon.
Nature Center Magazine- Emma Springfield has another Nature Site Of The Week for you today. I think you should make sure you see such a great website.
...And the sky opened up and the rain fell in torrents in the form of a huge thunderstorm. The water of the storm washed away everything from the surrounding land. As the rain began to cease, small creatures began to come back out from their hiding places, but there was no sign of Ratty's geese on the water or on the land. Ratty looked to the sky and promised to be good again, but the geese never came.
After the huge thunderstorm I went back to the park where I had been teasing the geese. I didn't find the geese, but I found the results of the storm all around me. The sky was still dark with rain clouds, and day was turned into night inside the forest. There was a thick mist in the air that made it hard to breath, and my clothes became soaked just from walking around.
Everything in the forest was full of water from the storm. As I said, the air was a thick mist. Even though it was finished raining, there was water falling from the trees because the leaves were so heavy with the water that had been collected on them. Branches were even breaking under the weight of the water. Nothing was safe in the forest today.
If you're looking for animals, the time right after a storm has ended might be the best time to find them. There were huge flocks of birds inside the forest and at the edges. I tried to take pictures of them, but things were just so dark and steamy that they were already flying away by the time I would lift my camera.
The forest was also just full of black squirrels, but these creatures are the ghosts of the forest to begin with. It is very difficult to get a picture of one of these creatures out here in good clear weather, and in the dark it is next to impossible. The only reason I saw them was because there were so many running through the woods.
There is a sad thing that happened while I was out on the fishing platform, looking at the flooded lake. Behind me there was a commotion of something crashing through the trees. Then I heard an animal wailing. I really had no idea what it could be at first. Maybe either a squirrel or a bird calling.
When I finally walked back in that direction, and up the stairs of the platform, I heard it more clearly. From under the stairs, and out of reach, the wailing came again. I began to understand what had happened. The crashing sound must have been a poor squirrel that had fallen from high up in a tree. It had made its way under those stairs and was suffering. There was absolutely nothing I could do. I moved on to leave it in whatever peace it could have.
I moved quickly down to the dam to see what the storm had done at that end of the park. The whole area was flooded. The viewing platform back here was under water, and the dam was overflowing. The small peaceful creek at the outlet of the dam was now a raging river. The water was overtaking the land everywhere.
There were no geese on the lake, but there were ducks sitting on an old log. They probably rode out the storm right there. It was very difficult to see anything because of the steamy mist that had formed. My camera could see better than I could, but it was having trouble focusing on anything.
There were several of the bigger water birds out on the lake. I will show you more of them in the upcoming days. There was just so much to see that I have yet to sort it all out in my mind, and I'm still trying to get over the thought of the squirrel. I'm sure it feels much worse about it than I do. It's now hard to write anything at all when I think of that, so I'm going to stop right here.
We had a huge rainstorm last night. I knew there would be considerable flooding at any of the nature parks. I've seen how it can get when it's been raining hard, and whole stretches of these places become inaccessible.
One of the first things I thought of was that I had to go over to see how the nesting goose got through this. I was sure she and the other animals would be fine, but I still had to find out for myself. Besides, those eggs should be hatching very soon now. Maybe even today!
When I got there I could see that the whole place was flooded. The water level was up above the lake viewing area by the dam. As I got close, I could see the nesting goose looking out at the water. I was relieved to see that she was alert and well.
When I walked up and looked at her through the bars though, she looked completely soaked. At least she made it through the storm in one piece. I wondered why she hadn't gotten up to shake herself off. Maybe she didn't want to get any water on the eggs.
Here's a closer look at her. The poor thing looks like a plucked turkey. Her feathers are matted down, but she does look alert and healthy still. That's a really good sign. Maybe an afternoon in the sun will fluff her back up to her old self.
Take a look at this picture and the last one. You would think that because her feathers are wet and matted down, she would look smaller. She actually looks more spread out over the nest than she usually does. She must be doing it on purpose.
Maybe she's protecting the eggs from all of the water. Still, she looks really strange sitting there like that. I examined her as close and for as long as I could. I didn't see any movement under her. I don't know if I would see any if they were hatched anyway. She should be getting very close to hatching these babies. It should be any day now.
As predicted, there's her mate back there on the dam. He's sticking very close to her, as he always does. He looks really wet too. A few seconds ago he was shaking himself off. I don't know if it's because of the storm or it's because of the swim he just took. Usually they don't get this wet from swimming.
I've been watching her every day, and I will continue to do so. It should all happen any day now, unless she's hiding them from me already. I'll probably be back tomorrow with a post showing the flooding around this dam. It's very cool. We'll also get another look at the geese too. See you then!
I think I've mentioned a few times over the last several days that it has been raining here. Not only has it been raining, but it has been flooding in some places. We have had a lot of rain.
I promised when the rain began that I wouldn't let that stop me from going out and getting at least a few photos for you. Did I keep that promise? Well, of course I did! I won't say it was easy, but I did it.
Most of the things I got weren't as good as some of the other stuff I found during the rare breaks in the rain. But I did find something interesting on one of my rainy little trips. It was the goose in my two photos here.
When I saw it, this goose was just standing there enjoying the rain. It really seemed to like this cold rain that we were getting. I watched it looking around as if it didn't have a care in the world. After awhile it bent down to eat something from the ground a few times.
I kind of wondered why it was all alone like that. I hoped it didn't get lost or something. It didn't seem very lost though. And it didn't seem very lonely either. There was rain pouring all around this goose and around me. The goose still seemed happy.
I wasn't feeling very happy though. I was quickly becoming soaked! In the end I had to stop thinking about the goose, and get back in the truck. I had my rainy day goose pictures anyway, so I went home to dry off.
The very next day, without my camera, I saw two geese lying down in the grass at a spot very close to this. I guess the goose wasn't alone anymore. Maybe it was waiting for the other one to show up the day before.
For the last two days these geese have been gathering in my backyard, and this is the only picture I have of them. Yesterday I was too busy, and I had to leave for a while. I didn't get back until after dark. I wanted some pictures of these birds, and I knew they would be around for a few days.
Today it was raining, but when I looked out there I saw that the flock had grown to maybe forty geese. Even though I had to leave, I figured I should probably get a few pictures to show how many there were. I was watching them out there, and they seemed to be having a good time. Some were wandering around, some were eating something in the grass, and some were even laying down to rest. They seemed completely oblivious to the downpour!
I watched them there like this for a minute, and then decided to go out there. I went out in the rain trying to decide where the best place to be was. The geese didn't seem to mind me being there, they never do, so I walked right into the middle of this big flock of geese. I raised my camera to start taking pictures, and then disaster struck!
I got exactly one picture and my camera battery went completely dead. The camera shut itself off. I tried to turn the camera back on, but it did no good. All I got was a message that said to change the batteries. I stupidly looked at the battery compartment, and thought about changing them. I began to search my pockets for more, but then I remembered that they were back in the house.
As I realized all of this, it dawned on me that I was going to attempt to change my camera batteries in the middle of the pouring rain. I was in such a hurry that I wasn't thinking straight at all. So I decided that maybe I should put the camera away for today. I was in a hurry to leave anyway, so I ended up with just this one lone picture of the geese.
After I came back home, I looked at my camera sitting there on the table, and remembered my picture. I at least had this one. Now you do too. The only picture from a rainy day of geese and dead batteries.
Here's what I originally intended to talk about after I got back from Sumac Pointe. Everything else from that day seemed to sidetrack me. The results of the flooding we had from the rain over that weekend interested me, and I wanted to say something about it and show these pictures.
The rain kept me indoors for much of the weekend, and I wanted desperately to go out. If only my camera was waterproof. I even went over to Heritage Park to get a picture of the pond with the rain falling on it, but unfortunately the place was closed up tight. I guess they didn't want some lunatic out there wandering around in the rain. That's exactly what I probably would have done. As I remember, I complained all the way home.
When the rain was over, I wanted to document the flooding at least a little. That's when I remembered the existence of Sumac Pointe and the Lake.
After I got past most of the geese, I started taking pictures of the water. You can see where this picnic table now rested. I'm not sure whether it washed into the lake, or the lake got big enough to halfway swallow it up. There were scenes like this all along the shoreline. All the picnic tables in the park were now half sunk in the lake.
Come to think about it, the whole waterway this lake belongs to, floods a lot in places, even after a small rain. Usually they have to close the road down for miles. It's all part of a bigger network of parks out here known as Hines Drive. There are signs posted around that let people know this is a natural flood plain. So it's never unexpected. It's part of the beauty of the area.
Like I said, it's never unexpected. But what was unexpected by me, was that the rain and flooding would bring out so many animals. I couldn't help but show them here. The best part is that I'm not finished!
These last few days have been rainy, so no nature trails for me. I think this is a good chance to practice taking pictures of rain.
Rainy days are some of the most relaxing times. Some people find them kind of gloomy, but my family likes to sit on the porch and watch the rain. Something about it just seems so peaceful. Sitting there quietly listening to the rain can put a person right to sleep.
Rain renews and brings new life to everything. The smell of the air when it rains is one of the most refreshing things you'll ever experience. Try walking in a light rain; you'll feel great afterwards.
If you do it right, rainy days can give you a great everyday adventure. Try thinking of some more things that are great about rain.
