Pictures, as promised

For a full view of all the pics we have of the flood visit this link.

Before we get started you have to appreciate the full effect of Fay on our family. The frequency of baths for the boys increased beyond anything they'd ever experienced. S is obviously exhausted from all the excitement...
When MM arrived home this is what he saw. He towed the boat to the drive and put in right here. Anything going to the house had to be boated in.


Until Fay, this is the highest I had ever seen the water rise.




When I arrived home, this is what I saw. The water had gone down enough that three boys and I walked across, albeit not on dry land like Moses... Now the boys were trapped in the house again and the smell, uh, the smell - anyone got a cold they'll share?



At MMs request I began taking photos... This is what I saw when I walked into our "basement" (please help me come up with a good word that convey's the area's true role). Look closely: There's silt all over the floor - and MM has been working hard all day. The sawhorses made it but many other things didn't.





Here's MM pointing out some things that made it. The bikes all received a good washing with WD-40 and they still work. It truly is shameful that we weren't able to put up more of these things.

See what I mean:

This is a view from our back porch. Most everything you see here is now at the dump. Some things were salvagable, but mostly, it was all just wasted.









The two big speakers near the tree on the left were pillaged by L for the magnets. We need to do something with them but for now, we have them and the speakers are gone... Why didn't we just get rid of them before now? Do you hear the regret?


This shows how much lumber we had stored for various reasons. Some was salvaged but some of it was gorgeous oak veneer ply wood that would have made a great TV stand. Some of this wood made up some really old saw horses that were held together by particle board. We had upteen heavy objects stored on them. When the sawhorses collapsed, all of the stuff went under.
Just when we thought we'd never see the light of day shining on our "basement" we managed to remove much of the silt that coated the floor and walls. Many things have been thrown out of the basement by now, but how will we get it to the dump? (ENTER Mr. N.G. himself:)






Through his help and encouragement, we discarded three truck loads of crapola. It's a good thing his wife is so easy going... Before the day was over power was out again :( a line dangled in the wind and shorted the power lines rendering us "powerless". I packed up the HB patties I had just bought, wrangled up some buns and was on my way to their house for the evening. I can't begin to express how much that meant to us. For just a few hours we were able to relax and not worry about anything - except the ebb and flow of the river across our driveway - when will it end?

A few days later another df (didn't get a picture!) arrived to give just a couple hours of her time to listen to me lament our state of affairs - and clean some mini storage drawers. Her presence and the words of encouragement received from friends and family made it possible to look up once again. Father God is so good at meeting me right where I am.

I have one more set of pictures to share about the damage a flood can render on a place, but it'll have to be for another day.

Conclusion of the flood, a few days in one...

Thursday: The water is receeding. Perhaps today we can go to the house. Perhaps today they'll restore power to the house. We've reached the end of the rope at G & Ps house. Not that we're not welcome to stay as long as necessary, but nerves are frazzled.



After a hearty breakfast MM packs up and heads to the house. His intent is to check on the house and encamp at the house. P sold us his awesome generator to run the fridge and a few lights, perhaps a fan. He was able to boat to the house and begin figuring out what needs to be done. Everything was rank. Power wasn't restored until late Thursday afternoon. MM spent the night alone in our stinky house. We spent the afternoon letting the kids unwind in water they could play in. Thank God for DFs who drop everything for you!



Rant: The county required new septic systems to be built above the water table mark in the ground. Down here, that's ground level. Every septic system must be above ground level. It makes sense until you think about it: Why is the water mark at ground level? Gee, I don't know... flooding! I'm sure there's a logical explanation, without a true water table mark because of the flooding, how do they know where the normal mark is? Yet, new houses built here are required to build up a mound into which they insert the septic system. End Rant.



I spent one more night at G & Ps so I could go to a homeschool meeting in town. I woke the next morning to begin repacking our van with all the important stuff that we'd extracted from home just five days earlier. It's amazing what you can fit in a van. Just before lunch the boys and I were headed home - of course we had to stop at the store for a couple things and by our DFs to get a few things from the freezer. So it was early afternoon when we arrived.

The water had receeded from the better part of our yard and out of the basement. Not long after I arrived MM wanted some pictures taken of the mess.

Sidenote: If you are in a purge mode (keep, give away, throw away kind) if you don't know what to do, go ahead and toss it. We had tried to purge before the flood and didn't know what to do with all that you see here. Now we had no choice about it, those things were trashed and headed to the dump.

The stench of our yard and neighborhood was very distinct. It's the kind of smell you'll never forget. I'm amazed that I didn't toss my cookies... The boys haven't a place to play, so "Up to the house and stay there." was the command of the day.

Now our lives are filled with cleaning up. A few DFs were able to make their way all the way out here to help with the clean up. All in all we hauled off 5 truck loads of junk from our house. I sure wish we'd done it before the flood. Our basement is no longer storage area but a play area for our boys. They love it!


I'll post pictures later.

Lessons in obedience...

So I went to bed last night after a df typed in and e-mailed a recipe to me for white chili. It's wonderful use of chicken breast and it's fun to enjoy rather than it's sink staining predecessor - Texas Chili.

If you want the recipe, you'll have to beg...

Back to my dreams of white chili: It was my plan to make it for dinner today. While others, ahem, have been busy redecorating their homes, I've been remodeling our lives! We've been on a roller coaster for the past month or more and it doesn't seem to be ending any time soon. So some semblence of order is necessary to keep S, M and L happy. My first goal is to be up before them, easier done when I don't have a blog to write in the middle of the night.

Today happened to be a banner day. S woke around 7 a.m. hungry at least for milk. I sent him on a bathroom errand and back to bed - it's way too early for you to be up... Do you feel the time change coming? I do. Not much later, L woke. MM had informed me that he'd be making biscuits with sausage and eggs, breakfast wasn't going to be first thing. Making sure that the boys are busy I got L started on his lessons. S got a bowl of cheerios without extra sugar TYVM. M is now awake. I pressure cooked the great northern beans (who needs canned beans?) while MM fried our eggs.

MM laid breakfast on the table and we all ate heartily. Knowing that we needed to get going I did what all good mommies do - call a friend. The boys were all busy playing and working. I pulled out the recipe for white chili and continued my work. Sauteeing onions and celery, boiling chicken with onions, chopping cooked chicken, seasoning and simmering it all. Oh boy, it was smelling great. It was simmering before 11 a.m.

Blah, blah, blah, so you had dinner ready before noon... So what?

So what, at 5:30 this afternoon we were cleaning up (see next blog) the mess left after Fay's flooding and we heard the tell tale sound (that we'd heard at G & Ps Sunday night after Fay) of a tree falling. Sure enough it fell right across the power line to our house and our neighbor's house. Four males trapesed up the road while I did what every woman does when the power goes out... call the power company.

Now I'm really glad I followed the nudge to get dinner done early... The weather has changed recently and with the tables we acquired from our neighbor after the flood we moved our dinner from the semi-dark and cave like house to the front lawn. We watched a medium sized gator play hide and seek. Mullet leaped upstream and breezes blew gently around us making living here worth it.

How was I to know that power'd be out this evening?

Wednesday after Fay

We've taken two of the three boys to see the risen water in our river so far. Today it's time for MM to take M for a survey of the damage. The water hasn't receded yet, but it's no longer rising. Our neighbors, P & K met MM and M at the landing upriver from our house.

M is thrilled that MM bought him a new life vest (his other one was a mile down river!)

At P & K's mailbox MM pushes the boat into their, ahem, "driveway".




But did he strap on his vest? AAAAK, mom just noticed it.

This is a picture of the water after it's gone down a whole foot and a half. At it's peak, the water covered three-fourths of the window shown here. See some of the debris in the basement? Yep, that's the stuff we didn't think would get wet... Thinking, a bad idea.

Just the day before M would have been knee deep in icky water.

"Jack and Diane".. not their real names. MM helped design this deck/dock. (Vowels are important, aren't they?) It was indeed designed just for the purpose of docking during high water. We're just upset that we couldn't stay in our house during this whole event... Not that I'd want the kids to be in it all day every day...

Here is MM standing in the middle of the cul-de-sac behind our house (front faces the usual river basin - away from the road!). Just two days ago it would have been up to his waist/abdomen.




At some point another neighbor drove his 4x4 down the road to check things out and to carry a film crew to see the water.

Next Fay post you'll see the aftermath when MM moves back into the house. I don't care what others say, being away from home is difficult.

Grief...

is an understatement if there ever was one. It's not right for me to blog about it, but suffice it to say that I am grieving with a dear friend whose loss yesterday is verifiably unmeasurable. Please pray for her, her dh and her children.

A Child's View of the World

Things had relaxed a little by Tuesday. I wasn't anxious to work (fortunately all my deadlines had been met the week before!). After a wonderful breakfast, we packed up S and headed to see the river again. What was our fascination with the river? I think MM just wanted to see it for himself. He's accustomed to being home during such events so not seeing it over our road himself is uncomfortable.

Following in his dad's footsteps, click here to see what S does in the river on the road. For those who don't want to see the adorably cute S running in circles around his mother, who was required to be in the midst of the water!, here's a picture of us.

After we had romped a little in the river we loaded up the van to head back to G & P's house for the night. As we left S was rather chatty (obviously tired!) and asked with all sincerity "We go our house?" Proud that he knew where we were and how close we were to home, I replied with the very adult "No, the water's in the way." Realizing that this excuse doesn't phase the 2 yo who knows we have boat, I chase it with "The alligators and snakes are in the way!". About an hour later he wakes from his travel nap and manages: "No our house, 'gators snakes way." Apparently he got the idea!.

Now, for those who care, yes this blog is at the top. Re dating is getting old since I can't get you to scroll and see the latest post that's not dated. And since no one's suggested any names for S, M & L, they'll stay that way until I'm adequately inspired.

NOTICE: Contest Enclosed

Please scroll down past my dingding post and get to the good stuff that I'm trying to keep in chronological order of flood events. That way you can comment on my handsome son, L.

Why don't I assign cute names that represent their personalities? I wonder...

Contest in the Middle of the Remember session

I have three Boys, S, M & L. If you know them and can come up with creative names that reflect something you know about them, please comment with their current initial and the suggested name.