OY.

[layla]

About 200 yards (or so) upstream of the house is the junction of "our" creek with First Chance Creek coming down out of the hills. It tends to overflow badly in the winter, but the creek is pretty far down below the banks, and I never thought too much about it. Well, I went out there today with the dogs and the overflow is actually topping over the banks ... which means it's at the level of the yard now, and upstream. Overflow moves slowly, but if the cold weather doesn't break, it's not too far-fetched to imagine a scenario in which the overflow flows into the gravel pit and our yard.

Also, perhaps someone can tell me ... does overflow happen elsewhere, or is it strictly a far-northern phenomenon? It's so ubiquitous up here that I never really thought too much about it ... when it's cold in the winter, water glaciates in layers above creeks and streams -- I remember times we'd end up with 15 feet or more of overflow on parts of the creek when I was a kid. I tried Googling for it, but could find hardly anything -- and you KNOW something must be rare if Google doesn't have it!

EDIT: Hey, I just learned something new from this page ... overflow ice is also called aufeis. Googling for aufeis gets all kinds of hits. Those wacky Germans, they have a word for everything.