Last Saturday it rained. It thundered. It hailed. It flooded. There were microbursts of wind activity and of course, there was lightning. I was spending the afternoon safe indoors at Redbud Ranch but once things cleared up, I drove to my spot in Kansas to see what the creek looked like after a great big giant rain.
It was late when I left Redbud Ranch. The sun was starting to set behind some lingering storm clouds and of course I had to stop and take a picture of what was happening in the sky.
By the time I got to my Kansas land it was quickly becoming dark, but I was not disappointed with what I could see when I finally got out there.
That creek was fast. It was loud. It was something.
It didn't take long for Aussie and Bella (and Elvis) to show up. Bad weather will never stop those three from helping me witness whatever is a couple feet from my face.
The next morning I drove back out and everything was calm and peaceful and bright and serene. Elvis decided he needed to lie down and wait in the creek while I looked around to see what was new in the landscape.
The water level had dropped about 12-18 inches overnight.
After watching the power of that water the night before, I was surprised anything could survive it. But here's some grass, still rooted, on its way to becoming upright again.
I looked down to see one little crayfish very still in the water.
Usually these guys bolt as soon as you blink in their direction, but he stayed still for me to take a picture of....I guess, both of us.
The water level had dropped about 12-18 inches overnight.
After watching the power of that water the night before, I was surprised anything could survive it. But here's some grass, still rooted, on its way to becoming upright again.
I looked down to see one little crayfish very still in the water.
Usually these guys bolt as soon as you blink in their direction, but he stayed still for me to take a picture of....I guess, both of us.
Bella came by and as she plodded through the water, the little crayfish turned and moved a couple feet closer in my direction. Odd. I think the crayfish was probably just too worn out from hanging onto who knows what and for how long while the water raced over and around him after last night's deluge. 
It just goes to show that even if you live underwater and under a rock, bad weather will still find you.
5 comments:
Never seen such an odd looking lobster sort of thing. Are they edible? Looks a little muddy after his flood ordeal. Fun to see such a creature up close. Glad to see the doggies are well and there to keep you company on your exploration. Guess you know now to build well above the creek beds.
This is one of the few live crayfish I've seen because I think the other ones have been messed with by the you know who dogs. Yep. People eat crayfish/crawdads. Did you get a look at his blue comma-shaped eyes? I didn't know their eyes looked like that. Odd looking things.
And yes, those dogs show up pretty darn fast when I get out there. On Saturday they helped me put together a big metal garden wagon/cart. Whenever I got a part successfuly bolted together, the dogs would get to share a biscuit.
The previous owner had built a deck over the creek and you guessed it, that water took it all down to the south neighbor's part of the creek. Twice. Twice! You would think you'd learn the first time..... When I build, I'll be smart enough to build on a hill. :-)
Oh wow, so many beautiful pictures in a row. It's been raining here for days now, on and off, some rivers flooded, some disappeared to reappear a few days later. The house is actually trembling right now when there's a thunder. I don't like thunder.
Those cloud shots are amazing. And I haven't seen a crawdad like that since my last days of wading in our Tennessee creek when I was a child. More than 40 years ago....yikes.
Sandra-That's a whole lot of drama going on! Well, after big storms, the weather can be pretty darn glorious, which is what's going on here in KC right now. Hope the same happens soon in your part of the country.
Mental-Same here. I hadn't seen a crayfish since I was about 10 years old. And thanks for the nice comment about the sunset. It was beeyootiful. My photo just hints at what was going on.
Post a Comment