Flood Update

In case you're worried...you don't seem to be, but just in case...I'm letting you know that we made it through the flood okay. It flooded to 22 feet. The record is 22.8', so this was a big one!

Our Earth-loving-artist-neighbor lost an amazing sculpture that he'd worked weeks on, a really ugly alligator he made out of a log, a broken-down Volvo, some power tools, and a freezer full of food.

Our four-dogs-and-a-brother-in-Iraq neighbor lost a basement full of furniture and clothing. He also lost a really gross futon mattress that floated across our yard and wrapped itself around a tree. I was happy to show him where it was this morning when he asked, although I was surprised that he'd ever want to see it again.

The T-family (all five members' names start with "T", plus the dog, Toby) lost a 10' section of porch railing which floated four houses down. The flood missed going into the interior of their house by 1" (that's one inch!). They lost an air conditioner, yards of lattice, and several odd items.

We lost 2 lawn chairs and some beach toys. We also lost a chicken (one of the best layers, of course) and our hen house came crashing down.

Today I took a tromp through the wooded lot next to ours with the neighbor from the opposite side of the woods. We found two 4' pieces of picket fencing (mine), 2 kayaks (the 4-dog neighbor's), a beer carton (nobody's), a pink cup (ours), 2 smashed lawn chairs (ours), a chair (the searching-neighbor), a mattress spring (ours, but the 4-dog neighbor took it while I silently let him think the piece of trash was his), 3 planks of wood (ours, from our chicken pen), a wooden staircase three steps high (only God knows)... and I finally quit looking.

There are 3 really good things about having two major natural disasters in a six-month span of time (Hurricane Ivan then this flood):

1.) It brings out the neighborly-ness in neighbors,
2.) We are reminded of God's power
3.) Life is never dull here.

...Just in case you were worried.