I have returned to teaching, and am working as a part-time teacher (actually more of a tutor) at the Tule River Indian Study Center in Porterville. I have been assigned six youngsters, five boys and one girl, from 5th Grade to 9th Grade (freshman at PHS). I work Monday through Thursday, 1:30 to 5:30 p.m. with Friday off. Those Fridays when I need to leave for the northern part of the state for one of my monthly meetings, I am already off and don't have a conflict.
Since it has been much too long since I posted, it's time to catch you up on what is going on around the hilltop.
Spirit, the black and white twin calf is still doing reasonably well. She's still on the bottle, and doing quite nicely. She's started picking up on Calf Manna, and today I added grain and alfalfa hay. She's growing and really fills up the dog house in the kennel, so may have to make some further arrangements soon.
Strawberry, the big roan drafter, has found her place with Dandy and Shiplay. Dandy is still a bit of a stinker to her. He tries to herd her away from hay, or if we offer a carrot. She simply moves away a bit, until he quits, then immediately returns.
IT RAINED! Man, did it rain. Over a period of sixteen days, I got 13.30 inches of rain in my gauge. On the hill behind us, and north to the south side of Snailhead, the ridge between here and Springville, there are several outcroppings of white stone, some of which was responsible for the digging of a Tungsten mine on the hill behind my home during WWI.
Also present in this area is a deposit of crystal stone, similar to Rose Quartz. Every spring I have seen in these hills has a smattering of quartz which carries the water. My theory is that when the mountains shift and slip, stone such as granite simply crumbles and crushes. But the quartz stones shatter like glass, leaving cracks which carry water.
During the big rain, a much greater amount of water than usual was deposited on the foothills. As this soaked in, it found quartz paths which do not usually get filled with water. But this winter every outcropping is oozing water.
One of the small gullies draining some of the country to the east of the house, will only run if the rain is heavy. Not only did it run, but it ran strong.
During this rainy period, a portion of the hillside behind the house fell away. Because it was just below the road leading up to the old mine shaft, I assumed I needed to do some ditching on the road or have it wash out during the next good rain.
When I got to the site, I discovered it had nothing to do with run-off from the road, but simply was the hillside being saturated with water.
Of course, all this water falling on the area raised the Tule River up to the point the County Road Department removed the railings and support posts on the Upper Globe Bridge, closing it to traffic.
The Tule River drops quickly but the high-water level is obvious.
Looking upstream from the deck of the bridge, the highest water level deposited a little trash there.
Most of the locals went around the signs, crossed the bridge without the safety measures, and saved time and miles, especially if the trip were to Springville.
The book is coming along, even if slowly, with the support and advice of the Writer's Group.
I will make an effort to get in here and blog a little more often ... let's make that a whole LOT more often.
No comments:
Post a Comment