Enjoying our last day…

Today was our last day before our trip. I had planned to do a deeper dive on the housekeeping, but David suggested that we do a little tree trimming before we left. Before the tornado we occasionally took walks on our property, but I wouldn’t say that we knew it intimately. Since the tornado, I can now say that we know every square inch of our land and we are deeply invested in the growth of every plant and tree. We check to see their growth progress. We pull vines out of their limbs (we can now name all of the vines that grow wild in our woods). We marvel at the shade that is covering areas that were bare last summer. Together we marvel at the regenerative powers of nature.

All of this reminds me (Heidi) of summers as a teenager. We lived on a cattle ranch in Eastern Oregon. My summer job was to do the flood irrigation for the hay fields. Thus, in the mornings I would go out, usually barefoot, to walk along the ditches. A flood irrigation dam is a 2×4 that is about 6 ft long with a piece of plastic tarp wrapped around it 5 or 6 times and then trailing out 6 ft or so. When I placed the dam in the ditch I would try to find the perfect spot where the water would flow out of the ditch until the area of the field that needed to be watered when I dammed it up. I’d place it in the ditch and then put medium sized rocks along the bottom to hold the plastic tarp down in the bottom so the water wouldn’t flow under the tarp. Then I would put rocks behind the 2×4 to keep it from getting knocked downstream by the force of the water. Then more rocks to fan the tarp out on the sides to direct the water where I wanted it. Then I would walk but upstream to the previous dam to remove it. I would have to wade out into the water that was knee to thigh deep in the ditch and remove the rocks on the bottom and sides to take out that dam. Then I would move that one further downstream to set up for the next release. Then I’d check on the dam I’d just set up to see if the dam was holding or leaking and if the water was going where it needed to go. If not I’d have to redo the dam which was always much harder with the full force of the water hindering my attempts to sink a piece of plastic tarp and dam up a fast moving stream. I’d keep working through the fields until I’d done all of my dams. Then I’d play in the creek (in the guise of checking on the main dam that diverted the water onto our fields) and ride my horse. Or I’d read a book under the trees. Then in the afternoon I’d do it all over again moving the dams down another dozen yards. So, I guess that’s why I love being outside in nature. Or at least sitting on the screened porch listening to our wind chimes and reading a good book…