When It Rains It Pours

I am almost too tired to write this, but as I sit here watching more clouds roll in for the afternoon I feel the need for some catharsis.  You may have heard about the extreme weather that has been pummeling the plains states for the last few weeks.  Well, that's us.

One of the many tornadoes that touched down a couple of weeks ago even happened to touch down at our place - but, thankfully, it lacked motivation and only destroyed a lot of our trees and fences.  Still, that and the ongoing tornado warnings and sirens and flash floods and closed roads and rising bodies of water and loss of life is more than enough to remind us that post-traumatic stress disorder is a real and lingering thing.

2019 Tornado Events in Eastern Oklahoma and Western Arkansas

One of our favorite old oak trees uprooted in the corner where we were breaking ground for a donkey paddock.

It occurred to me for the first time this morning that all of this record-breaking severe weather might very well have been the catalyst for starting a new blog.  Subconsciously, of course - as these things go.  But surely after days of watching the radar screen and listening to damage reports made something go click in my head.  

Regardless, it is not entirely the stress of dodging weather disaster every day that has exhausted me.  It never is.  What wears me down are the daily things.  Usually they are little unforeseen difficulties that pile up until they become overwhelming. 

Our grass is dying from excess water and our soil is leached.  Extra food is needed for all of the animals, but keeping it from going moldy and growing toxins is a constant concern.  Disease is more likely to spread in this kind of weather.  Parasites proliferate.  Small injuries become bigger ones as infection is harder to keep at bay, and nearly impossible to treat properly in muddy conditions.  

And more on the way... again.

We have not had a break long enough to even get started on repairing our damage, let alone working on the projects that we had planned for this spring.  I am grateful that we happened to scale back on the number and kind of animals we were keeping in anticipation of better organization this year -- I had just hoped we would have been able to start on that organization as planned.  

Staying dry.

There is nothing to be done about it other than wait.  In the meantime, we are continuing with what can be done.  I set thirty-two Buff Orpington eggs this afternoon to hatch for our flock since we sold all of the chicks I have hatched so far this year.  We plan on making it to one of the local small animal swaps in the morning with a box full of goslings for sale.  (Weather permitting, of course.)  We have plenty of books to read and games to play.  We are okay.

But before I end this post, I hope to remind anyone outside of the area that a lot of people are not right now.  Please keep Oklahoma in your prayers and if there is any tangible way you can help people directly affected by the windstorms and flooding - do it.  

And now the rain has come again... Outside again to get goslings to a dry shelter.

​Posted by Anita

Muck boot model.  Never carries an umbrella.  Sunshine enthusiast.