Finally...A Little Moisture...

Last summer, when we moved to this new farm here in Missouri, it was HOT and DRY. The two ponds on the place never went DRY, but they were down pretty good. One still had a good amount of water in it, it just didn't LOOK very big.

We had never actually seen the ponds full....

Until today. 

With all of the melting snow, and around 1.75" of rain - everything is REAL soggy. We heard reports that the local river was up to half full nearby, so we got in the car to go take a look.

Most recent memory has it about a foot deep, and 10 feet wide.

It wasn't "rolling" in a torrent, but was moving along pretty fast. It probably won't take long for it to go down again, though, but it was nice to see it running as full as it was, even if it won't last long. 

When we got back home, I took a walk out in the pasture to check the ponds. Naturally, I was spotted by the cows, who decided to come see what I was doing. It was all a thinly veiled attempt to see if I was giving out anything good to eat. They came trooping down the hill, and Daisy even stopped for a drink:

She could actually get a drink without having to climb down the bank, and walk out - over dry land - 10 feet, to get to the water. I'm sure the frogs enjoy the added water, too. They should be getting ready to crawl out of the mud, and start "singing" again.

The "Lower Pond" out in the hay field was as full as it is gonna get. There is a "spillway" of sorts at one of the corners of the dam, that lets overflow out, and restricts the capacity of the pool. It's is still about twice as big as we've seen it. 

Now, if things can dry out a bit in the next few days - before the next round of rain gets here, I can clean up a few things.

It also makes it easier to feed cows, and to WALK!

While we were at the bridge, I noticed several orange flags set out in a pasture just north of the highway. During the past summer and fall, I've noticed MoDot (Department of Transportation) people out surveying on several occasions. These are preliminary flags, but it looks like the new bridge will be going along side the old bridge (at a slight angle), and they will change the "alignment" of the highway just a bit. That way, they can build the new bridge, and still carry traffic over the old one - even if it is just one lane. It would appear that the new bridge will be built right on the north side of the old one in this photo.



The current bridge was built in 1936, and is starting to show it's age. In addition, the roadway going west out of town is in bad shape in spots. I doubt if they will fix the road, but at least they will HAVE to lay down a new bed and new pavement for what they realign!

It will be nice when they get it done.