More Fay Mess

We continue to have lots of standing water. Because of our proximity to Payne's Prairie, I imagine it used to be like this a lot. Kim asked if we've seen a lot of alligators. No, but we have seen lots of water moccasins crossing the road. The rain drives them out and they try crossing to higher ground. John saw four yesterday. One summer when there was a lot of rain on the farm, they saw 35 moccasins. That's a lot of cotton mouths!

Here's the seasonal pond. It quadrupled in size from before Fay and actually takes up most of the horse pasture now.


Here's the tree we lost. I think it's a water oak, but honestly I haven't waded out there to look. You can see it fell away from the fence which is a good thing. Kim also had problems with water oaks. They're actually one of the trees that's not usually recommended by UF because of their susceptibility to wind damage.


Our driveway is a complete muddy mess. I now have almost gotten the truck and the car stuck in it. John's actually forbade me from driving down it - I have to park at the road and he'll move the vehicles in and out for me. This has forced us to think about getting a load of lime delivered. I was hoping to hold off on this for a little while longer, but I have to be able to drive groceries and kids closer to the house. John made me take a picture of how I covered the car in mud yesterday trying to get in the driveway. After this was when he forbade me to drive down. I think you can see why.

Post Fay Mess

We got 7+ inches of rain this last week from Fay and we're really under water at our house. Here's a couple photos to show how the water is standing. There's not normally a pond here. You can't tell from the photos either, but there's a good inch of water standing throughout the rest of the yard - the grass is just covering it up. I almost didn't make it into the driveway yesterday - it was a fish tailin', mud slingin' adventure. I have more photos to show (lost tree, seasonal pond, etc.), but I'll post those tonight hopefully.

Seasonal Pond Pre-Fay

We have a seasonal pond (aka - low spot) behind our house. It rained a little last week, so here's what it looks like before Fay really gets here. It's got some water in it, but mainly looks like standing water in a low spot. When we get a good amount of rain, it could potentially be three feet deep. So, this is what it looks like now.


And, I'll take a picture after Fay passes through.

Here Comes Fay!

It looks like Florida is in for its first hurricane in three years. And, of course, we haven't done much to prepare. We have most things on hand normally (being good seventh generation Floridians makes you wary during any hurricane season), but we've only got about 6 ot 7 gallons of water right now and just a few batteries. And, no charcoal. Because we live in Wacahoota (Payne's Prairie), we're on a well. And, if the power goes out - which it will - we have no water. We're also the last to get power restored usually because so many resources have to be diverted to Gainesville and the university first. So, if the power goes out, we'll camp at my in-laws next door. They have a generator. And, we'll try not to open the fridge and freezer.


My 5-year-old starts kindergarten at the charter school in Micanopy tomorrow, so this storm could really make his first week of school really exciting. I've got to get him prepped tonight - pack his lunch and backpack, pick out his clothes, soothe his worries. And, then it'll be more hurricane prep. Come to think of it, we should probably fill our bathtubs up. If you lose power and water, you can't flush the toilets. But, if your bathtubs are full, you can use this to flush. And, you could always boil the tub water to make it clean if need be. So, I'm off to get the kindergartner ready and batten down the hatches at home. We'll be ready for Fay when she gets here.

PS - sorry for taking so long to post. It's been a crazy couple of weeks at work and trying to get ready for school.