Underground Streams

In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins, not through strength, but through perseverance.  (H. Jackson Brown)

Seems like it’s rained all summer, and now we’re into fall and it’s continuing.  The ground oozes water when you walk across a field. Should it keep on into winter, we’re in for some mighty snowy scenes.

I recently found this small passage in a travel book by Andrea Sutcliffe about the area in which we live:  . . . the many caves and underground streams in the area took shape when drainage water dissolved the limestone.  Over the years, residents of some areas have reported hearing the sound of rushing water beneath their homes after a heavy rain.  There have also been reports of local people tapping sticks or poles into the ground and then watching them either disappear or descend to as far as 16 feet below the surface.

When we built our house 40 years ago, our eighty-plus year old builder dowsed for water, finding an underground stream easily.  My fantasy is that after all this rain, the ground water level is likely so high that we’ll easily hear that “sound of rushing water beneath” our house!  That would be cool.  I’m gonna keep my ears cocked.

And keep the joe-boat ready . . .