Helping Mother Nature with the Path to the River

July 2010 - sprucing up

The Flood of May 2010 did some "re-arranging" of the Path that leads down to the River.  

• The bridge survived, nearly intact.
• Lots of sand was dropped on the downstream side (to the right of the bridge)
• A sycamore was uprooted and toppled at the river's edge.  It's making new trees from its fallen trunk (upper right)

Now, re-filling some of the washed away earth at either end of  the bridge is underway.





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August 2002 - the Path is born

The path has undergone a lot of change over the years.  It was just coming into its own eight years ago.

Another great day awaits

Peaceful, quiet, full of the wonder of what the day will bring.


The cat was stalking a crow out in the yard.  The crow flew away when the cat, having slowly crept toward it for about 25 feet, made his sprint for the kill.


Have fun buzzing all around the neighborhood on the Tracker.

Peaceful in the early morning

Two geese just flew down the river, then made a lazy turn over our River bank to fly East over our path.  Honking all the while, they were like a major pleasant interruption to the peaceful transition from early morning fog to sunshine skimming across the yard as a new day begins.

Hundred-year Flood

Tennessee got flooded. Big time.  The Buffalo River was at an all-time high.  Gigantic amounts of water.

(compare to the graph in the post from April 25th):
Notice how the scale, typically going to around 13 feet, has been expanded to 33 feet.  With around 15" of rain around Middle Tennessee in 2 days, the water couldn't empty fast enough;  the River shot up to 25 feet high.

The pictures below tell the sad story.

Home is an ISLAND

What a difference a few days make.  Look how happy and proud the Garden Cottage is wearing its new coat of paint.  And its "big brother" house is nearby.

Then it started to rain... and rain...  and rain... and rain:

Now, see the Garden Cottage.  Well, at least you can see the very top of its roof.

Look carefully and see the Garden Cottage's roof in the distance, at the upper left of this picture:

A neighbor who lives on higher ground took this picture.  Can you see how the River has come to visit the house.  The River is enjoying wrapping around the wrap-around porch.  The trees you see grow along the "dry creek".  Today, the dry creek is the Buffalo River.  


It will be interesting to see what surprises await as the River returns to its normal height.

Spring rains

Night before yesterday we had ½ inch rain.  Then yesterday, another 2 inches of rain; tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings  throughout the day.The garden is happy.

The River has risen a lot, and will be rising more, but likely will not spill over the riverbank onto the yard this time.
Just a bit ago a bunch of intertwined logs and branches went racing downriver.

This morning the wind is calm, the skies are all deep blue and many different birds are chirping.
It is fascinating to see the goldfinches zooming all around as they race from tree to tree.  What are they doing—maybe they're choosing up partners?