The New Year's Eve flood of 2010

We saw it coming. That is the only good thing I can say about the flood. After nine years, we've figured out the flood formulas, and we were ready, so there are no stories of risking our necks to save stranded sheep or horses or drowning goats this time.

When the weather forecast predicted rain with temperatures climbing into the 50s after weeks of below zero temperatures at night, we knew exactly what it would mean -- the frozen ground would not be able to absorb any of the rain or melted snow, and the creek would flood. We moved all the animals to high ground and hoped that the prediction for rain was wrong. It wasn't.

When we were awakened by loud thunderclaps at 5:30 a.m. on New Year's Eve, Mike got out of bed and started checking on all the usual suspects. The store room in the barn was flooded, so he put a sump pump in there to pump it out. The pen north of the barns was filling with water, so he used a pick ax to cut a trench for the water to drain away from the kidding barn, which usually floods in these situations. The septic field had standing water in it, so everyone had strict instructions not to use any water that was not absolutely necessary.

By New Year's Day, the water had receded, the temperatures fell below freezing, and our little world was frozen again.