When the Hubby says “put on your shoes and bring your phone”, you never know what adventure awaits. Yesterday he said that and took me to one of the hay fields to check out a hole that had opened up in the center of the field. Our farm slopes downhill about 1 1/2 miles from the road to the river, and the top part is all karst, with numerous sinkholes. He had hoped that I could take a picture that captured the depth of the hole. Unfortunately, the camera couldn’t see anything down there. It was about a foot across, and I used the electronic tape measure to try to get an idea of how deep it was. We got a reading of 10′ 1″, but that could have been the laser bouncing off the walls of the hole. It was deep, and there was water in the bottom of it, so it must have been below the level of the river. He drove a fence post next to it — don’t want to accidentally drive the tractor into it baling hay — you could break a front axle. I’m going to want to keep an eye on it and see if it gets larger — that would be a good walk for a later day.
When we got back in the Kubota, Hubby wasn’t ready to go home. Instead, he went hunting for an old pump. He said that at one time, there had been a house down on the river, and the pump was all that was left of it. 30 or more years ago, the Boy Scouts used to come out every summer to camp on the river for a week, and Hubby’s dad made sure the pump was oiled up and primed so they could use it for water. They said it was the best water they ever drank. It took a few forays into the weeds, but we found it. Would have been handy to have that working when the electricity was out — maybe we should oil it up again.
Next we went down over a bank (yikes!) and he showed me where the old gristmill used to be. I almost never wear shorts, but it was HOT, so I was wearing my one pair of cutoffs, as we tromped through this stuff. When I was young, I never got poison ivy, but I was sweating it a little, hoping that still held true. Fortunately, I came out mostly unscathed. (I do have a few mosquito bites.) Whew! Hubby said that the gristmill sat on the grassy area (arrow) and water was channeled past it from the river. There are huge beams (about 15″ or more across) buried in the mud there, and he has brought pieces of the mechanism to the house as they have been revealed, but there is a lot more buried under the mud.
Then he showed me where the channel meets back up with the river. I think that was so he could show me what he said was our private nude beach on the other side of the river. Wish I’d known! I may have to put a boat down there so I can get to it.
I knew there was also an eagle’s nest in the area, and we could hear them, so we did some checking. Hubby said that it was in the top of a sycamore tree, but it was hard to see with the leaves on (How in the world did Zacchaeus ever climb a sycamore tree? Must have been a small one!) We finally found it. Can you see it near the top of the tree? There is a closer picture below. It is huge! Didn’t see any eagles there yesterday, though. (We have seen them in the bottom, hunting rabbits.)
And then we finally went back to the house. That was a great adventure! I love exploring our farm and learning some of the history.