Rain Reign, go away.

Our normal trickle.

Rain Reign.





When we moved to Cowfeathers in the fall of 2003, as with all houses not new, but new-to-you, we had a lot to discover. One of the things that charmed and fascinated me was the bridge. As with houses built two centuries past, they planned them around important features, such as access to water. Our house has a little creek that bisects the property, and which the driveway must pass over- or through....and mostly, if you had a strong team of horses and a workman-like wagon you could drive through. The bridge though, did not seem like the right size bridge for our little creek. About 12' wide and 6' high, made of ancient concrete, it appeared to be quite overbuilt. But then again, you could make that argument about our 200 year old barn. Overbuilt? Or, built to last? It seemed to be an extraordinarily large bridge for such a tame(lame?) runnel. Then, came our first spring at Cowfeathers. And, it rained. Not just a normal rain, but one of those egregious rains. A Reign of rain. I put on my wellies and tromped outdoors during a lull, to inspect our little runnel. The top lip of the bridge sent little splashes up into the air. Whaddya know? There was a reason indeed for our little creek to have a bridge that was more than 1000 cubic feet. I'll just bet that wasn't the first time the water went high since Cowfeathers was built! In seven springs, it hasn't happened again. But today, we're getting pretty darn close!

Looking south from the bridge in winter.

Looking south, now.









Swim? Anyone? You can see the spring gamely bubbling away in the flooded field.