First Water - Celebrating the Return of Water to the Land
Today is what my family and I call "First Water". It's the moment that our seasonal stream starts to flow and this year it's also the moment our pond starts to fill up!
It's a time that we race outside to watch as the pond fills up and water returns to our land.
Today there was so much rain that the pond actually filled up and the water flowed out over the 2 spillways.
My family and I really miss our pond and stream when they go dry in spring/summer. Perhaps one day the pond will have water all year...
But now the pond and stream are back and soon the ducks and geese will return!
We really can't wait!
The return of water to the land is important for us because it marks the end of the dry time and the start of the land becoming hydrated again. Without the return of water our wild homestead would not be able to support the life it does.
I'm always trying to do more to increase the amount of water the land can hold. This pond is just the start of a whole decentralized and passive water system that will help my plants grow and bring life to my wild homestead.
Even this pond is a work in progress--I will be expanding it, making an island in the middle and adding additional ponds just upstream of it to make a big pond complex. But already the pond brings so much to our wild homestead.
So today my family and I celebrate "First Water". Let it be the start of many rain storms to come that will hydrate the land and help fill the land with life!
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That is SO thrilling. In the 90s we went through 8 years of drought. I literally FORGOT what rain could BE like. When I went to UK and it was pouring big fat drops I was amazed.. so amazed they thought I was weird. I had just forgotten. Rain is always a joy.
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Very true! I hope we never get a drought like that here... I really miss the rains after our long dry summers. It was fun to wade into the pond and just enjoy being surrounded by cold water again! :)
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I really like the idea of the passive watering - so important to understand the flow of water when it comes. Celebrating the end of the dry season? Amuse yourself and google "Songkran Chiang Mai" and see how the whole town here goes insane to celebrate "first water".
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Yeah, my goal is to rely almost exclusively on passive watering in the future. Only watering I want to do on an active basis is spreading worm tea on the garden! :) I will have to look that up! I wish my community celebrated the return of the rains in the fall instead of lamenting the end of summer...
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I think the culture still needs to be a primarily agricultural one before "the community" can celebrate rain collectively. Im grateful for Thai people's connection to the land and what I have learned from them.