It seems like the wet weather pattern we’ve been in for the last several years has returned. We had a reprieve from it last summer. I actually seen dust a few times 🙂
When we have periods of heavy rain in the winter I’m always wishing it was cold enough to be snow instead of sloppy wet rain.
The backyard hasn’t dried out in weeks and doesn’t look like it will anytime soon. A couple of days ago The Deer Hunter said we could start telling folks we live in a lake house since we now had one in the backyard.
I always console myself that at least the rain is refilling the waters of the mighty deep.
The Deer Hunter worked for a well drilling company when we were first married. I listened with rapt attention as he told me about the amazing things he discovered on a daily basis. Things like artesian wells which overflowed like park water fountains making creeks of their own design as they found their way around the drill headed for lower ground.
One time he came home telling about a particularly eerie well. The earth fell in and began to open up around the drill head. He said they shoveled dirt, threw rocks, logs, and anything else they could find into the hole and it all just disappeared. Needless to say they broke down and moved from that well as fast as they could.
He told me about drilling in areas where marble was plentiful. Almost always they hit an underground creek or pond of underground surface water before they ever reached the layer of marble.
After The Deer Hunter shared his stories of water flowing freely from the tops of fresh drilled wells and creeks running under the ground we walk upon I became mesmerized by waters of the mighty deep. Today when I see rain overflowing ditches and leaving ruts in our driveway I think it must be trying to join those deep waters.
Last night’s video: Fried Cabbage + Fat Back + Soup Beans = Good Eating in Appalachia.
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Tipper, howdy to all y’all! It’s another too warm and rainy “winter” in this neck of the woods, in northeast Tennessee. We have had only four days of winter (12/23-26/2022), unless you add Friday, 1/13/2023, as a mild winter day. My wife (Mrs. Appalachian Irishman) and I prefer colder winters, with snow instead of rain. We were Christian missionaries in Russia from 10/1/1994 to 9/30/1999. Winter there was real. Snow stayed on the ground from about the middle of November until about April.
I’m glad to know that the Deer Hunter worked for a water well drilling company, in his younger years. That recalled Ferrell’s Well Drilling. Papaw Marion Ferrell (4/13/1880 – 11/21/1970) started Ferrell’s Well Drilling, in 1901. Dad (Earl Ferrell, 9/17/1927 – 1/25/2008) took over Papaw’s business sometime in the 1950s. Dad continued Ferrell’s Well Drilling, until he retired. None of us four boys took over Ferrell’s Well Drilling, since we had other career plans, but we helped Dad many times. From my teenage years to early adulthood, I helped Dad move the well machine, load drill rod and casing, set pumps, and drill water wells. It was dirty, muddy, and either hot or cold work (depending on the season). We ate a lot of soup beans and ‘taters, but Dad’s well drilling income kept the six of us fed, clothed, and housed. Mom (Betty Lou Wood Ferrell, 11/24/1932 – 12/27/2000) had stopped working as a telephone operator, when there were only two of us boys. (The other two came along later.) Mom worked fulltime at home, raising us four boys and helping Dad with his phone calls and bookkeeping.
I’ve written several articles about Ferrell’s Well Drilling — on my website, Appalachian Irishman. Today, I re-read my 1/25/2021 article, “DAD, 9/17/1927 – 1/25/2008, AGE 80: I REMEMBERED (published 1-25-2021).” I wouldn’t change a word. Four days from today will mark the fifteenth year since Dad joined Mom.
By the way, some comments mention witching wells. Sometimes, before Dad set the drill, someone would witch the spot to drill. Dad always hit good water. I saw it done a few times. I learned how to do it. I’ve used divining rods. In fact, I made a set, which I still have. They work, if you let the divining rods do their job correctly. I’ve only found and marked water lines or underground water. I’ve not marked a well to be drilled.
Remember, well drilling is the only business where you start at the top and work your way down! That was a joke that Dad used to enjoy. I hope that you like it. Y’all take care, and may God bless, as you keep up the Appalachian traditions, which are based on the biblical worldview.
We have had a very gray, cloudy, rainy, sloppy winter, so far in NY. We saw the sun for 1 1/2 days earlier this week & then not again. Lots of freezing rain and slushy roads.
Interesting thing about wells…….We just had our property surveyed and come to find out, we don’t own all of our original, hand dug well that used to serve the house. The original property line runs directly down the middle of the well. Luckily for us, #1. We have tapped into the newer barn well & #2. our neighbors are our relatives & we are hoping to work out an easement on the property line. We tapped into the barn well because the original well would go dry in dry summers. When I was young, we would have to haul water from the creek down the road to fill the washing machine, boil it for dishes & washing & buy water for drinking. What a pain. The barn well is a drilled well & will pump 32 gallons a minute. The water table is so high around us & there are lots of natural springs in the surrounding fields. Water runs across our cellar floor almost all year. If we don’t get the corn choppers in, early in the fall, the tractors will always get stuck. So I can’t understand how this well goes dry????? And why oh why did they dig it ON the property line????
I wish there was a way to even out the rain from one area to another. We are in a terrible drought here and haven’t seen enough rain in several years. You are blessed to have a steady supply!
Good Morning Tipper. I thought you may find it interesting that we too have had rain this January which is highly unusual in Southern Alberta (Canada). We live in a semi-arid climate and usually have dry cold in the Winter.
Thank you for this blog and thank you for your YouTube channel. Bless you and your family.
You’ve heard time and time again, no doubt, but I see an outright book series here, Tipper. You have backlogs of articles, stories, anecdotes and experiences. The hardest part would be compiling and sorting them into a format you liked, but a series of books would sure be a hit. With self-publishing getting easier and with the online market base you already have as a start – to me, this idea is a Win Win.
Your writing is so visual. THANK YOU. Just throwing in my two bits.
My favorite author lives in California and they are being hit hard with flooding. My thoughts and prayers go out to all those being affected by the floods. It seems odd to me because when I think of the land out west I think of hot, dry weather. I think we are definitely setting the results of climate change.
I wish the temperatures were cold enough for us to have some big snows here in Kentucky! 🙂
We haven’t had much rain here in eastern NC. It’s 73 and sunny outside but really windy, i’ve been pruning our crepe myrtle bushes today. I hope this wind will bring in some rain.
Can’t imagine how I got to be so old and never eaten fried cabbage. The streak o’ lean looked delicious. My bride can’t stand the smell of it cooking and thinks it’s not good for me, but 2 or 3 times a year I fry some up on a single burner butane stove on the patio and make a pan of biscuits.
The rain keeps missing us in central Texas. We really need a lot to recharge our acquifer. Population is increasing in the corridor between Austin and Dallas and there’s concern that the acquifer might run out.
We’re in standing water here in Ohio too. My back yard is so soggy! The creek is up near to the top of the bank and we are supposed to get more today/tonight. I believe we may need Noah to build us a boat it it keeps this up. Have a blessed day y’all!
Water is all around us. There are a number of wet springs across the ridge enclosed by stones that are still kept up, even though the house near it doesn’t use it any more.
There’s one about twenty-five yards inside the woodline that feeds a creek we used to crawdad hunt in. It runs down through the woods all the way to the road that climbs our ridge. It’s steps away from a large hole with tumbled down chimney stones scattered in it.
Everyone up here draws water from wells hand-dug long ago. Our well was a few steps off the back porch of the old four room house we lived in before it burnt. It’s located at the base of a small drop-off at the base of a rock which makes it impossible to clear out the silt build up without breaking a bit we were told. We had a dowser up a few years ago, intending to dig a well nearer to the new house, but he couldn’t find anything closer.
The people down the back road were luckier. He found them a spot next to their house so they were able to run an electric line to the well house to keep it from freezing.
my yard is mud, at least you have a lake. have to put my jeep in 4WD to climb out
Well seems like it’s turning into last year’s pattern. We also had a wet winter and spring and then a hot and dry summer. It was raining here a couple days ago, then yesterday, one minute the sun was out, then it was cloudy and now calling for rain again Sunday. At least it’s not ice all over the roads and power outages. Enjoyed last night’s video. Fried cabbage is so delicious and the soup beans and fatback, that’s some good eating!!!
Raining here in SC PA but that is what I would rather see than snow even though I was born and raised where many years ago we received a lot of snow. I can stay inside and feel great about digging into a project if its pouring rain, but if the sunshine is out with mild temperature, I feel the need to get outside:)
Your supper is what I love to eat!!! When Matt filled his plate and held it still, my hand naturally went forward to the computer screen:) My Mother ate raw cabbage and cooked it like you too and I like it both ways. Plus, oh my goodness, you just can’t beat cornbread, green beans and onions with it – that is unless you had fresh out of the garden tomatoes with it too.
A bit of rain is always welcome here in the Florida piney woods country; we like for the water table to continue to be stabilized and nourished. We use well water, as all my rural neighbors do, here on our farm. We have a couple of shallow wells and one deep well for our water needs; water always is a concern and so we look forward to winter and spring rains. Sure enjoyed your video on fried cabbage; agree that when used as a side dish for beans and cornbread, that is a feast indeed. The extras of pickled beets and Pap’s hot pickles made it more so! Must admit, I’ve “kinda got above my raisin’s” as I like fried hoe cakes or Johnny cakes with my beans. Although, nothin better than pone cornbread, I still lean toward the fried. And at eightyfive, good eating kinda moves to the top of one’s list. Thanks for the share, Tipper!
Good morning Mrs Tipper.
It sure has been wet in your neck of the woods in 2022!
I like how you say,”the mighty deep”.
I have always been amazed that nothing stops moving and shifting in this world. The Earth’s core is fluid after all.
Compare a water balloon with the Earth. Tectonic plates are the shell of the Earth as is the balloon surrounding water.
Working with the elements, including well work (water and oil) and mining is so dangerous.
Trusting in God as the cornerstone and rock of our foundation, is the only way I would be able to bear watching loved ones head out for the day.
Y’all take care. Blessings
It is raining in the Richmond, Virginia area. We are behind on rainfall, so hopefully we will catch up.
Rain in January is so depressing and it seems to rain here at least half the week. When I went to bed last night it was pouring rain and we had a chance of severe weather. Today it is sunny (so far) and 53 degrees. They say one inch of rain equals ten inches of snow. If our rain had been snow, we would have been in trouble here in KY.
Old folks used to tell me how the city used a diviner to find underground water pipes. When all else failed, they would call up the diviner and he would find it quickly. I don’t think it has ever been determined how it works but it does. They used a diviner up until 1990’s. Then people just thought it was silly to use the old wives tale trick. Wish they would have studied how it worked instead of calling it names.
When my parents built their home in 1962 they used a diviner. I watched him and was amazed. That well has never went dry. Still running today
Witching to find water is a gift and it works. My dad had his drilled well witched and the best spot was just behind the hand dug outhouse!!!
I love the rain. I don’t like mud, but the rain makes me feel cozy, and my Suzy Homemaker passions run rampant during wet, grey days. I bake, sew, craft, clean house top to bottom, etc. I tend to be more organized in the Homefront duties on those days. The sunshine isn’t there whispering to me to come out and play, giving me desires to wander and roam my way to new adventures. Instead, the blanket of grey a rainy day drapes over me, snuggles me deep into feelings of comfort and peace. It keeps me quite content to imagine women of years gone by tending to all the work that makes a house a home. And I feel so very happy just tending to my own sanctuary like others have for centuries. There once was a little girl who lived in my skin, and she would daydream about what her home would be like someday. Rainy days wash the cobwebs of clutter of adult life out of the way, and glimpses of those daydreams become strong again, and I spend the day making them real. Rain and homemaking go hand in hand in my heart.
Donna. : )
I see a poem or a song in there somewhere!
I had a well drilled a few years ago. I asked the guy if he had a way of knowing where to drill, like dowsing or divining rods or something. He said “No, not out here. I just punch a hole in the ground. I’ve never failed to find water in this area. There must be a lake under here!
I’m here in Utah, and we Westerners are so very thankful for the moisture that our land is receiving. I, too, picture the deep water sources being refilled after this very dry time that we’ve had. I pray that reservoirs and aquifers can refill and that our people can recover from the damage of both lack and over abundance.
It is raining here in Alabama today. We have treats of possible tornados today.
When I think of excess waters and I think of the deluge that Noah and his family went through in the Book of Genesis.
Miss Cindy said what I was thinking, but put it in words way better than I ever could. Thank you, Miss Cindy.
Tipper, I enjoyed the stories you shared from the Deer Hunter. They were very interesting.
I have not been checking rain amounts for the official station here. But I will say I think there has been more fog this winter than in any other one of the previous 39 we have lived in Georgia. Sure makes for gray days and when we get a sunny day with light wind I gotta go walk in the woods, looking for things. Found some Piedmont rhododendron the other day. I had thought there was some to be found somewhere thereabouts.
Water really is an amazing thing! It goes where it wants regardless of what we want it to. We can coral it for a little while but ultimately it wins.
I find it amazing that we can be drowning in rain here, then hear of forest fires and drought in other parts of the country. Although nature gives us mostly what we need, it can overdo it sometimes. We had a short dry spell one time, and my little neighbor mentioned she was praying for rain. When it finally started raining, we thought it would never stop. I jokingly told her she could quit praying, as I believe we had enough. The waters of the mighty deep are a wonderful thing, and I am so fascinated by the use of divining rods to find water. It does work, but no sure they ever figured out how.
We watched another video that added onions to cabbage to be fried. May try that
I always fry onions with my fried cabbage. I love it.
It’s raining again where we live in Alabama. Last week we had devastating tornados. Many people lost their homes , cars and at least seven people were killed. So rains not so bad, just really messy. Floods on the other hand are as bad sometimes as the tornados.We’ve about rubbed the hair off our two black labs who live in the house with us,as their favorite thing to do is play in mud puddles. In a few months the weather patterns will change and it will be so dry once again we will be praying for rain for our gardens and grass. We are BLESSED whether sunshine or rain.Love the Blind Pig ♡
Your fried cabbage video reminded me of a dish I made up years back when I was a single mom. Cook ground sausage in a skillet until almost done, add cut up potatoes and chopped cabbage. Stir around until all is coated, cover and cook till cabbage is tender and fried up. If you like a sweet flavor, I mistakenly used maple flavored sausage once and that has become our favorite! My then little boy is now 51 and still loves it. I haven’t made it in ages, but guess what I am making for supper tonight!
Here in East Tennessee and Knoxville? Nothing but rain, rain, and more rain. As the song says, “And the rain rain rain came down down down, the rain rain rain came down.” Of course the last “down” has to have two syllables if you’re from Appalachia. And fog? Boy howdy, the fogs been thicker’n snail snot lately, drivings been tough lately too. I was just telling my better half last night that you’d think we were living in Merry Ole England. Thanking Baby Jesus that we don’t, for we need sunshine, not Wellies and London Fog coats. My LL Bean Duck boots sure have been useful lately, but just an FYI, don’t wear them when the temperatures are in the teens. Frostbitten toes, all of them, are a pain…..literally.
I no longer complain about rain. I have noticed more and more over the last years my area of southern Greenville County, SC will have a wet winter and spring and will be hot and dry in the summer when you are trying to grow a garden or farm. Last year we went from a wet spring to hardly any rain from May to October. My grass turned brown and would crunch when walking on it. The large creek on my property stopped running, just pot holes, and some of the farmers cut large fields of corn for silage because of it being to dry to produce corn. Less than an inch of rain each month during the hottest months of July and August. Northern Greenville County, being closer to the mountains and NC state line, will usually get more of the summertime thunderstorms. Some of the bored wells went dry. I am reminded of some of the older farmers of the past saying one season will follow another, in other words a dry season will follow a wet season. Tipper, I noticed looking on the weather radar it’s raining up around you this morning, it was predicted to be rainy for us but so far not a drop.
Not only rainy, but cloudy even when it did rain, here in East Central IL. But I love it, makes for the coziest holiday season (if it ain’t gonna snow!) I had to take our tree down though bc we were painting walls (while I’m not babysitting) and it sadden me to see it go. I usually don’t take it down until the end of January bc we love it so much. All the rain has surely helped you creek follow so rapidly and make you that joyful sound in you woods.
I sure wish this rain was snow too! I will never understand why many people prefer this weather to snow. In Illinois, we are in the middle of a warm spell, and everyone around me is so happy! Yuck! It’s only 40 out. It’s cloudy and raining and everything is brown. I would far rather shovel!
Jenifer, I can only speak for myself and for one other lady who worked at post office commented a week or so ago about snow. Like her I had to drive 17 miles one way to work, a lot of times during the early hours of the night, anywhere from midnight on up to daylight for 38 years, no matter how bad the roads were. A lot of this was before everyone had a cell phone. Many nights I never met another car. If I could have stayed home, sit by the fire and not had to get out in it, I might feel differently. Now I worry about some members of my family having to do the same thing. In the south the snow is “wet” and before it is gone the roads will turn into a sheet of ice. You can not take your hand and just brush it off the windshield. My cousin lived for many years in a north western state and would tell about how different the cold weather in the south was from up there, she would come back home to SC and freeze at 35 degrees.I have never lost my power or felt like driving was dangerous during these rainy days unless there was a bad thunderstorm.
Fried cabbage and Cube steak for dinner last night, good stuff. I can imagine well drilling companies have lots of stories to tell and I for one never think about the aquafer drying up, thank the Lord. I guess we do take a lot of things for granted. Have a Blessed day, almost the weekend.
We’re wrangling the rubber boots here in Ohio too. The yard is a soaked sponge. It’s been dry for months and our pond only half full. The wet season is good to bring the level back up and get us ready for planting time. We’re getting our seeds started under the lights now.