Yesterday while I was at the farm, I walked directly across the field from the garage to the shop. I guess directly is the wrong word, because there is no straight-line route between those two buildings. You have to go around the machine shed, which has the chicken coop attached on one end and between the chicken coop and the septic mound, but it is shorter to go that way than to go the other direction around the machine shed. I walk the route of the short cut year round, but in the winter, I only drive my vehicles on the other route, around the back of the machine shed and in front of the barn where there is concrete. I learned that lesson the hard way the first year our son had the place. I pulled my pickup around the other way to make it a bit easier to back my utility trailer into its parking place underneath the roof overhang next to the barn. I felt the pickup sink a bit and my stomach going with it. I tried to drive very carefully, but I felt the tires spin. I stopped immediately, turned in my hubs, and shifted to 4 wheel drive low range, but it was too late. All four wheels were spinning. Well, I guess only three, because I only have a locker in my rear differential. At any rate, I knew better than to make things worse, so I swallowed my pride, made a call for help, and waited until the neighbor showed up. Fortunately, he was able get to my two line from the concrete and didn’t have to go get his tractor to pull me out.

Anyway, yesterday when I headed to the barn, I noticed the squishy feeling that comes in the winter for the first time this year. From now on, until things dry out in March or April, I’ll often be wearing my muck boots at the farm. Fortunately, almost all of the shoes I own these days are waterproof, so I didn’t get wet feet yesterday, but in a few days, my regular walking shoes might be too short for some places in the yard.

The flooding is not from a creek. There is no creek close to the old homestead. It is simply from a rise in the water table. It has happened for so many years that those who came before us knew how to locate the buildings on high ground so that they don’t flood, although it can get damp in the yard and sometimes in the dirt areas of the barn.

Winter, defined not by the arrival of snow or sub-freezing temperatures, but by the rise in the water table, has arrived at the farm. I think it was about 50 degrees yesterday and there were a few rain showers. The showers were an improvement over the heavy rainfall that we experienced earlier in the week under an atmospheric river.

Another sign of winter in these parts: The Amtrak service between Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington is not running. service is scheduled to resume this evening after a 48-hour shut-down. Passengers who could not reschedule have had to make the trip on a bus. The tracks are shut-down due to a landslide of mud and debris near Vancouver, Washington. Amtrak trains that run on the tracks near our home, between Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia, are not affected. The confusion at train stations isn’t quite as dramatic as the airport when weather forces the cancellation of flights, but with ten round-trip trains each day, a significant number of passengers are affected. Fortunately, this delay came before the official start of the holiday rush. Starting next Monday, Amtrak will be adding two more daily roundtrips to accommodate the expected number of passengers.

Last winter wasn’t as wet as the previous year when landslides closed the train line, the Interstate, and two State roads, used as alternatives to the Interstate. Our son, who commutes on Interstate 5, was twice forced to spend the night in the town where he works because of road closures that winter, and train passengers could not be re-routed to busses because the roads were also closed.

Another sign of winter’s approach is the closure of some area roads due to flooding. The Nooksack River crested late Tuesday right up at the top of the bank, but did not flood the town of Ferndale. However, there were land closures on Slater Road and Marine Drive, two of the roads we take when we go to Lummi Island, due to flooding.

For someone who grew up with spring floods and lived 25 years in a place where flash floods came with summer thunderstorms, the adjustment to winter high water and flooding means that I have to pay attention. Mind you, I am not complaining. I haven’t had to shovel any snow this year and it is unlikely that I will have to shovel again this winter. I’ve taken to wearing my heavy winter parka at temperatures well above those that prompted the use of that coat when I lived in South Dakota. I tell myself that it feels colder because of the high humidity, but I fear it may be that I’m just getting older and less tolerant of the cold. I don’t have a desire to test myself against -20 temperatures, but wonder if I’m a bit less hardy than I used to be. I’ve still got my insulated coveralls, but haven’t had to break them out so far this winter. I do have a propane heater that I fire up when working in the shop at the farm, though I haven’t noticed any temperatures below freezing inside of the barn yet this year.

On the other hand, I really have good rain gear. We don’t let rain stop us from our daily walks, just as we didn’t let snow stop us when we lived in South Dakota. So far, I’ve always been able to have the right clothes to get outside wherever I have lived.

One thing for sure, I don’t dare complain about winter weather to any of my friends who live in places with more snow and cold. They would surely see my complaints as a form of gloating. We don’t have it bad where we live.