Ditches and Flowers

Ditches...the reality is that when one lives on a steep grade, one must spend some time cleaning and unplugging ditches! Every time it rains heavily, Mark asks Ben to check the ditches. I never realized the power of water running over the earth, even though I have learned about erosion since I was a little girl!

The night before last, we had some pretty hefty downpours. I had no idea of their severity until we went out yesterday. I wanted to stop by the neighbors', and on our way, the local road crew was working uphill from our house. YIKES! A big "bite" was taken out of the side of the road! There was a huge area where the rain undercut the road and part of it tumbled away.

We were gone the better part of the day yesterday, so Mark and Ben thought they had better take a look at the gutters and ditches around the house this afternoon. One of the ditches that carries a good deal of water down from the hill behind the house was partially plugged with broken branches, leaves, eroded soil, and rocks, so Ben went to work cleaning the area so water would run through the culvert instead of over it!

I watched Ben working and then decided to take a picture or two of him.

This is a section where Ben had not yet worked....so, *where* is the ditch?

And this is where Ben cleaned the ditch out. You can't see the water in the ditch, but it is there. Ben enjoyed standing in the ditch and just letting the water run over his feet! Of course, he was totally muddy, but he had fun! AND, he *is* a boy!

I was rewarded for taking the stroll out behind the house, too! When we first moved here, nearly fifteen years ago, one of the first things I did was plant some crocus bulbs. I just love the colors of crocuses, and I think I planted a lot of them.

Well, there are now NO crocuses growing in the side garden. They strangely disappeared shortly after planting. But, as I walked up to see Ben, wonder of wonders! On the crest of the little hill, I encountered......

One little white crocus......

A very pretty dark purple crocus.......AND................

One itty-bitty purple and white striped crocus! Now, this is the actual variety of crocus that I originally planted. I remember having them come up one year, but after that, they diappeared. I do have a theory of what happened, though. I have come to the conclusion that I have a strange little squirrel on the premises that is studying botany and he figured those flowers would look much more stunning planted rather haphazardly up on the hill instead of neatly planted next to the house..... Do you suppose?