I woke up this morning feeling less like a sci-fi killer alien and more like my old self after a rather psychotic day yesterday. I honestly don’t know how husbands survive menopause. They must really love us! Champ put a new water pump on the motor home this morning and that problem is solved. The generator could be another story but it’s not high on the list with everything else that’s happening.
The lake crested Monday. As I drove across the mile-long bridge on my way home from work that evening, I took note of the tops of the trees that had disappear below the surface last week.
Champ spent the day doing natural resources work. Now that the constant rains have taken a break the heat is back in full force and the water bags they installed around all the new tress earlier this spring need filled with water. On days he isn’t standing guard at the dam gates he will work on that job this week.
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Crest line near the top of our retaining wall.[/caption]Monday evening, we went over to Volunteer Village to check out the crest line on our retaining wall. Site 8 next to us is completely underwater. The road will need some work but not much. The electrical boxes on the back row, including ours will need some work before they put the guts back in and turn them on. I’d say we got very lucky.
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Close call[/caption]The water came up to within a couple of feet of the back of the pad and just a couple of inches below the top of our retaining wall. The sludgy residue left behind by the receding flood water is reminiscent of the bathtub ring left by the average 4 year old who has had a good day playing outside at our place.
There are subtle signs of the stress the animals are under being driven out of their homes in the timber and having their food source get flooded. Several of us have hosta planted under the trees in our sites. They have all been eaten. I left a tomato plant in my front planter that is still high and dry but has been eaten. Nothing ever eats tomato plants, they taste terrible! Someone was very hungry. There is goose and raccoon scat all over the pads that will need pressure washed before we move back. Disease will plague the animal population the rest of the summer and mosquitoes will thrive. Standing there reminded me that my tetanus shot needs updated when I get my physical later this week.
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Hunter and Isaac throwing rocks into the flooded yard where we usually play ball with them. Water is about 5' deep there now.[/caption]I imagine I’ll have to put the cats out toward the front of the pad when we move back. Who knows what kind of primordial crud will be growing in the aftermath of the flood. It will not smell anything like the “Iowa” candle my daughter gave me that smells like fresh cut grass, but more like a high school gym locker and rotting vegetation. With any luck, in a couple of weeks the water will be out of the village and off the road. Clean up will kick into high gear and eventually we’ll move back to our summer home.
This season has been a memorable one so far. Record snow in April when we arrived, record heat early and a sick AC, then record flooding. I could really use some good old boring routine the rest of the season. Isn't it funny how life can go from utterly boring to chaotic in the blink of an eye? I have to remind myself daily that the chaos can and will subside at some point. Just like midwest weather, if you don't like the current condition, wait 5 minutes it will change!
Until tomorrow…
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