The Native Iowan

Still early, still chilly, still wrapped in a granny-blanket waiting for blood sports to start. It is a calm and sunny morning. After all the rain the sun feels good.

With April passing and May arriving we should -SHOULD- be heading into some dry weather. Could use some dry weather.

Here is recorded rainfall for April:

ALL up, I count in excess of 400mm/ 16inches/ almost half a meter of wet… in the last 27 days…

I was talking to a good friend living in Adelaide, South Australia… he said hey have not had 10mm/ half an inch of rain since late last year. Which is worse? Drought or flood?

My neighbour came to talk yesterday. He recently installed a new septic system. He’s a do-it yourself kinda guy, borrowed my tractor to back fill the hole. Yesterday he said the plastic tank he’d installed had “popped out of the ground”. The tank being pretty much empty, the heavy rains of the last couple days filled the hole with water, and the tank floated up and out. He has a big hassle to contend with. Thats the problem with do-it yourself.

A side note: I have seen tanks buried in the ground float up and out. I have seen a cement swimming pool pop out. Never a positive.

Being “rural”, living “country” one must learn to be rather self sufficient. You cant always choose to put things off. A water-line leak, a fence down, live stock, weeds, pests, snakes and rodents all turn a do-it-yourself guy into a farmer. My neighbour is new at farming but he’s got all the skills required to be a good one.

Speaking of snakes… I have posted this but it is worthy of a monthly round up…

I am cleaning in my much neglected workshop. This shop is my “dirty” shop where I cut and work wood. Maintain and store machines and tools. Stack and store all the paints and herbicides and insecticides a farmer needs. I have spools of fencing wire, ropes, plumbing fittings, cables, cords and fence posts galore. Piles of old wood I’ve harvested from the floods. Barrels and buckets and tables and benches… all covered in a thick detritus of dust, rat shit, toad turds, and snake skins.

I found a small skin on the floor just a couple weeks ago. Nothing really new. Every once in a while I’ll hear/ find a snake behind a pile of plywood or under a neglected tarp. Most common is that the snakes run n hide and stay away, if you make enough noise. Or such is the theory…

I have yet to really come face to face with a poisonous snake.

… Cleaning a corner of my shed that has not been cleaned for quite some time… I have a small table set up where all my chargers and batteries live. I’ve been pushing stuff under and around the table for a long time… a couple unused wheels, a incomplete steel table, a couple spools of stainless cable, a pile of rope…

I am down on a knee, fishing stuff out from under the table, when I see it…

I jumped and screamed…. eeeee…. before I realised what I was looking at…

Life is good when you know your old heart can take such a jolt.

And the beat goes on…

More later