Ramblings-n-Writings

Archive for June 5th, 2008

If you’ve ever been off the interstate (the good road) in West Virginia, you’ll notice that we have two things – lots of creeks and lots of country roads (with potholes). And most of the country roads follow next to the creek beds. Presumably the roads are the old horse trails, and in a mountainous area, the easiest, flattest area is next to the river.

I’ve lived here for almost four years now, and every year we get rain that sends the creeks out of their banks. An average rain can wreak havoc in some people’s lives especially if they live near a low water crossing. For you non-West Virginians, a low water crossing is a cement bridge across a creek and under normal circumstances it will be above water.

Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, we didn’t have average rain. We had torrential rain that came down by the buckets. Then the sun would almost come out. Then we’d have round two…round three…round four of the rain.

We took a drive “around the block” about 8 p.m. Wednesday night, four hours before the rivers typically crest. Here’s a glimpse at what 3 inches of rain in a little over 24 hours can do around here (you won’t see our area covered on national television – I think the media likes to pretend W.Va. doesn’t exist although I’ve known plenty of people who have lost their homes or belongings to flooding like this every year). The picture quality is so-so since it was getting close to dusk and I was in a moving vehicle. =)

This is our neighbor’s hay field. (Thankfully he cut his hay last week.) The creek is normally about 10-15 feet wide in this area. His home is just to left of the garden. I’m not sure if he lost his garden or not since the water rose quite a bit after this picture was taken.

This duck normally swims in a creek. Now he has a pond.

The creek usually goes from the green bushes to about a foot to the left of the telephone pole. About 8-10 feet of the road is under water. This is an easy spot to get around thanks to gravel area on the right.

Local country store sitting on stone pillars for a reason. This store has actually been here since the Civil War time period. The original builders were wise to use the pillars because the creek runs directly behind the store. The brown water is covering grass that’s about a foot below road level – notice the water is about even with the road.
Local horse show ring. Honest! You can see the bleachers and some of the fence – look at the red building. The poles with the lights will give you an approximate location for the ring. The actual creek is in the trees in the distance.

A low water crossing. This is the road we take to church. This low water is usually one of the last to flood. In fact, a few years ago, I was at work when flooding started. I managed to make it to within 5 miles of the house before I had to turn around because the roads were flooded. Many hours and miles later I came across this low water crossing to make it home.

So that’s what happens when it rains a lot around here.

Aren’t they the cutest? This is their 5 week photo with mom watching in the background.

See the little orange guy trying to start trouble by batting his sister’s paw? That guy is Buster. He was originally Mouthy because he meowed a lot and quite loudly for such a little thing. But then his name changed for good reason:

Once the kittens started getting active, I had to barricade sections of the house to keep them contained. Yeah right. Buster busted out of every area we made for them. (See where the name Buster comes from?)

It’s kind of comical too because Buster was the last kitten born, but he’s the first to do everything – usually days in advance of his siblings. He’s been eating regular food for well over a week already. The others are just starting to show interest in food. He was the first to climb out of the original kitten box (the sides were at least 12 inches high). He was also the first to successfully navigate the barricades (flattened cardboard box propped against wooden box and large pack of paper towels – about 2 feet high). I seriously pity the person who adopts him since he’ll be hanging from the curtains in no time at all! =)