Last Post Until Sharon Leaves - Prairie Grasses and the Fair

I'll be on "Radio Silence" for several days, not returning to write with all of you until next week, Wednesday. I pick Sharon up from the airport today (I hope I wrote that flight number down ... oh well, I have the time and I know approximately where it will arrive). I'll drop her back off at the airport on Tuesday morning and proceed to the shop from there. It's going to be 4+ days of mayhem, poor food choices, noises from each and every direction, smells - good and bad, and experiences not to be topped. In other words, it's going to be glorious! LOL

Sharon and I will definitely be going on the large ferris 
wheel, for sure! We always do. We just love seeing 
the fairgrounds from the height, and we're usually 
with kids, so we can point places out to them from 
the heights. It's great fun! 

After a serious rain storm on Tuesday night, I looked at the culvert on Wednesday morning and saw that the cleared banks hadn't been as clear as they had thought. We had a huge pile of sticks and logs and vegetative matter clogging up the south end of the culvert - the end that's on my property. I immediately contacted Able - the guy in charge of the whole project. He said he was currently across the street from me where they were clear-cutting the north side of the culvert, and he'd wander over and take a look. So, I met him at the top of my property and led him down. 

The culvert after our first heavy rainstorm. Ir looks like a 
beaver built a dam here. Under the vegetation to the left 
is a concrete tunnel, and it's not working as a tunnel for 
the water in this photo at all. I'll try and post a photo next 
week of the cleared culvert so that you can see what it 
looked like after they cleared away the debris. 

"You've managed to make me a beaver dam," I said, and he agreed. He also pointed out that we actually have beavers living a short distance south in Oasis Pond. I actually was quite pleased with that - beavers mean we've got a healthy ecosystem. But, to return to the point ... he agreed that it had to be cleared out, and since we're expecting more rain today (Thursday), he said it would be done by the end of the day. (And he was good for his word - it was cleared by 6:00 pm.) 

I'm pretty amazed by the root structures of some of 
the native grasses. We've got a very steep slope heading 
into the culvert, and I'm very afraid of erosion. I think 
the County is equally concerned, however, and that their 
plan - in the long run - will be an excellent one. 

He discussed how selective native grass seeds would be put onto our raw dirt banks. He said that it would take 1-3 years for it to really take hold, and to let him know if I saw bare patches that they should reseed. The native grasses apparently have been chosen because of their deep root structures, some of which will go down up to 11 FEET! That's pretty impressive. Once the grasses take root, it should stop any erosion of the banks. At least, that's the goal. I thought I had taken a photo of the cleared culvert, because it was cleared before the end of the day, just as he had promised. But, I guess I didn't have my phone with me when I checked. But, I'm pleased - with the response, and with the long-term goals. It will be a PITA for a while, but it should be super good as an end result. 

This is an illustration of prairie grasses. When the farmers 
from the East moved into the prairies and pulled all of the 
native grasses up to plant their crops, they eliminated 
this root structure and caused the dust bowl (which 
contributed to the Great Depression). Grasses are powerful 
plants. 

So, I'm out of here. I pick Sharon up this afternoon, then we'll be at the State Fair on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and at Renaissance Festival on Monday. Chickie will join us for several days as well, so it'll be a great friend get-together for all of us. DH is a bit of a third wheel, but he manages. I'll be back on Wednesday next week with my next post. In the meanwhile, if you enjoyed my haiku for "Idol", I'd really appreciate your vote. Have an excellent few days. Slava Ukraini.