6-7-11

Self Sufficient!

   I've said it before, and I'll say it again - the people of Genola are a RARE breed!!!  They tend to do what needs to be done, no questions asked, and with no expectations that anyone is going to save themselves except for themselves!  

I had not yet found the place to post this story.  It is related to the water in Genola, only so far as our neighbors, Chris and Vonna, have been much in the limelight as the water comes and goes.  Now, however, I can tie the beginning to the end, and show you how this story involves the water, the canal, etc.On Memorial day,  our family was sitting around the table eating dinner and noticed our neighbors to the south (remember each house is on 2 1/2 or more acres, so not really in your yard neighbors) looking across the back of our property.  We tried to figure out if they were watching the waterfall, and tried not to be too nosy.  We made the kids finish eating before they began racing for the back door.  We finally yelled over the fenceline see what they were so interested in.  I think Bob's heart and mine both missed a beat as they said "We're watching the accident.  Chris rolled his tractor."  While the hearts may have skipped a beat, knowing how bad  a rolled tractor can be, the legs started running.  Bob and Robby ran for the neighbor's yard to see if they could help.  I ran for the camera.  This was was what I saw, wanting to know what was happening, but not wanting to get in the way of any rescue attempt.  

  

To make a long story short - Chris said he had been trying out the new hydraulic digging arm on the tractor up on the bank.  His wife, Vonna had told him several times that it was going to roll, and that only a dummy would keep doing something so dangerous (in not so many words).   She got a small video clip of him digging, so that he could see how awful it looked.  She turned off the camera, stepped away from the action for a minute, and back just in time to see the tractor roll over, with her husband going under it.  Thankfully, Chris retained his senses.  He was able to talk a family member through finding a jack and using it to give him just enough room to get out from under the tractor.  After his ambulance ride to the hospital, he was diagnosed with a broken collarbone, three broken ribs and a punctured lung.  

Keeping in mind - this was ONE week and ONE day ago  - this is what I saw this morning:

Still busted up, Chris was out by the road, trying to repair the water line for his irrigation.  The one he did not break.  The one he did not cause to be broken.  He just went out and got it fixed.  I'll admit, Robby and I got down there lickity split and helped as best we could once we saw what he was up to, but talk about 

SELF SUFFICIENT!!!

AND........

Water update for today:

There was NO water until 2:00 pm today.  It was still diverted 

from yesterday's pipeline repair.  The extra sandbags/plastic sheeting finally gave way at 2pm. It is releasing a small portion of water in comparison to what had been coming over.  The canal behind the makeshift repair is heavily swollen, and from what I undesrtand, this is only 1/2 of the runoff water.  The other half is still being run down the south side of Highway 6.  

Only a small amount of water compared to what has come over in
the past few weeks.

A lot of pressure behind these sandbags.  I'm thinking we may need some rebar?

almost no water on the road today.

You can see the new gravel where a large hole was filled in.  

There are still depressions in the road from erosion, but nothing like
the sinkholes that were there!

On our nightly water hunt, we were unable to find water until we got to row 4
in the orchard.  24 hours of  NO WATER and higher temps, and it was actually difficult to find
the water!

The small amount of water making it to the culvert under the road.  Can you say sinkholes?????