Thursday Farm Photo: Surf's Up!

The No Crossing Zone Is Back

This is where everybody usually crosses when our usually meandering little wet weather creek is running. Not today. It isn't quite the raging river it turned into last month, though there is supposed to be another storm hitting tonight. We definitely won't be driving through this anytime soon.

Fortunately earlier today I was able to ford the creek further upstream on foot, but only after taking all sorts of safety precautions as demanded by my visiting and very concerned mother. I was decked out in ratty sneakers (so my rubber boots didn't fill with water and drag me down), thin summer pajama pants (so my heavy denim overalls didn't fill with water and drag me down) rolled up above my knees, and my old glasses (so my new ones didn't wash downstream).

I was holding an enormous stick to keep me from losing my balance and washing downstream and had two syringes full of penicillin for the ewe battling mastitis poking out of one shirt pocket and a bottle of milk for her lamb in the other. I was quite the vision.

My mother also gave me instructions on how I should position myself when the water did start carrying me away - on my back with my feet out in front of me - which is apparently what you they tell you to do if you fall overboard when you're on a white water river rafting adventure. She goes on those sorts of adventures; I don't.

The good news is I survived - and barely got my knees wet. The better news is that all the animals are okay, and none of our very pregnant ewes decided to have a baby (or two) during the seven hours I wasn't able to get down to the barn today. Just cross your fingers that they cross their legs until tomorrow, because my mother says I'm not allowed to cross the creek for my nightly 3 a.m. lamb check, even though I told her she could come along and hold the spotlight so she'd be able to see if I was in the correct position when I started to wash downstream.*

© 2008 FarmgirlFare.com, the soaking wet foodie farm blog where the action and adventures never stop when you're living the so-called quiet, peaceful, simple country life.

* All lightheartedness aside, venturing into moving water can be extremely dangerous, and I know this from firsthand experience. The reason my mother was extra concerned today is because several years ago while she was visiting, the creek got up about 70 feet wide, and it rose so fast during the short time I was down at the barn that on my way back I was knocked down, pulled underwater, and seriously thought I was going to drown - and that was while holding onto a guide rope tied to two posts. It was only because she and a friend were holding onto either end of the rope and were able to lift my head up out of the water that I survived.

It only takes a foot of fast moving water to wash away a car. When you come to a flooded area, the rule of thumb is this: If you have to stop and ask yourself if it's okay to cross, then it's not okay to cross. Stay safe.