Going with the Flow

After no activity in over 4 years, for the third time in the first three months of 2009, the creek is running. The first year or two after we moved here, the creek ran maybe 5 or 6 times a year, then it only ran one or twice a year for a few years, then nothing, not even a trickle came down for years. In the past, I kept detailed records of the rainfall and the moon phase, and I came to the conclusion that the water table must be higher near the new moon and the full moon, but professional hydrologists will tell you that bound water sources do not experience tides. Here is the data for 2009:

January 6, 7 Waxing, approx 3 days before full 4.5" of rain between 1/5-1/7
February 27 Waxing, approx 2 days past new 1.10" of rain on 2/27
March 15 Waning, approx 3 days past full 1.45" of rain between 3/14-3/15

In years past, I also needed about 3 inches of rain to see the creek, but this year, it is running after only an inch or so. I also have a theory about that.

I've never understood why hydrologists claim that the aquifers don't have tides. We all know that the 'unbound' oceans and seas have tides. Lakes have small tides, and even the earth itself has tides. I've read that the earth's crust can rise and fall 20 inches between high and low 'tide'. Also, we see the effect of gravitational tides elsewhere in the solar system. We see pressure ridges in the ice on Europa, Jupiter's moon, and some Enceladus, one of Saturn's moons, has geysers that are affected by Saturnian gravity. It only seems logical to me that elliptical orbits allow for cyclic fluctuations in water and earth.

My theory on the causative difference in rainfall is that the source of my creek (and several others), a huge artesian well on the top of a nearby ridge, was bulldozed a bit over a year ago. The old homestead well was becoming a hazard to hunters and hikers and the forest service bulldozed the area to erase the well. I believe that when they did this, they changed the topography just enough to eliminate a runoff stream, which means more water in fewer creeks with less rainfall. It took a good heavy rainstorm to fill the open spaces, and now, with fewer outlets, the creek flows with less rain. I don't know this, but it is my guess.

I wish I felt better. It is allergy season and as usual, I'm miserable despite taking all kinds of meds and herbs. I alternate taking Zyrtec-D and Allegra-D, I also take Nasonex and Sinex and saline sprays. I think I am going to try a neti-pot this year and I can't wait for my neighbor to actually start producing honey. I believe that this particular local honey will help me more than anything. I've had nasal allergies all of my life. As a child, I took prophylactic Dimetapp - that was back when it required a prescription. The allergies continued during my adulthood and smoking years, but last year was the worst allergy year of my life. I think somehow the nicotine masked or muted histamine response, acting almost like an anti-histamine, and when I quit, the receptors were naked and every grain of pollen and every spore of mold became an irritant. I am hoping that 2009 will be better, but it is not starting out well. I may start another turmeric trial to see if it will help my allergies. Turmeric supposedly affects leukotrienes like the drug Singulair.
You know, there's got to be a reason that so many people suffer from allergies. The pollen has been here for millions of years, so why is it still a problem for so many people? Why haven't we adapted by having hairier nostrils or membranous filtration or a simple receptor block, an auto-antihistimine. As my family is from north of the Arctic circle, I suppose that I am the first generation sufferer as I am the first to live so far south, in a zone where things bloom and throw pollen for about 9 months of the year. It would be kind of cool if this 'suffering' triggered some kind of protection against other diseases or illnesses. Perhaps allergy sufferers would be or could be more immune to certain deadly viruses in some future epidemic. It is interesting to think about. In my experience, clouds really do have silver linings.