rising fast

Its been dampish here in the east.  Springlike in the truest sense - violent changes in the weather, soggy, greening slowly, the oozing squish of mud in the grass.  And cold.  That last bit is less typical.

There is a creek behind my house. Ordinarily it is a slow moving thing, thigh deep, rock bed visible, with reinforced walls where it runs through the urban landscape.  It is one of the reasons I bought my house, the sound of water and the pretty canopy of leaves and light in the back in summer.

I can lay in bed and listen to it in good weather.  Those are the best nights for sleeping, the deck off my bedroom like a room in a treehouse - less than it used to be, we've lost some trees in the past year - but still a magic place of shadow leaf movement in moonlight and the rush of water. 

We've had something like 10 inches of rain in the past two days, sleet, snow even, overcast and miserable droplets down the back of the neck.  Everyone is cold, more becasue this confounds their expectations that because it is more than chilly, really.  Grumpiness is rampant.

40 percent of the local roads were flooded yesterday - my estimate, but a fair one, I think.

Last night I walked around the park and looked.  Everyone was doing the same thing, strangers looking over the bridge and making uncommon eye contact with each other - this is a city, after all.  Someone - sometimes me - would say "wild", and the other would reply "can you believe it" - call and response in the church of weather.

The wall at the back shows the high water mark - about 12 inches maybe less.  Though I think the crest was actually early this morning.  Open up the images if you have time.  The water moves even in the still image.

The wall showing on the right is ordinarily visible to the height of a tall ladder.  12 feet, not less than two.  With a four foot ledge at bottom, along the creek that runs below.

I have some idle thoughts that maybe that flood insurance isn't such a bad idea after all, but mostly it leaves me voiceless.  Contained by the work of man, sort of, this rushing water is still a primal force, unregulable by puny human work.  It is good to remember that.

Comments

[jess]

whoa! we share a birthday. :) hope you had a great one. :)

[coincidentally, I was out of town worrying that my house was flooding!]

[denny Mcmillan]

happy bird day.(missed the birthday)

[Jackie]

I am obviously late on this, but Happy Birthday dude. I hope you had a great birthday week. :)

Also, the imagery of your backporch with the creek and the rushing of the leaves in the summer is beautiful and peaceful. That's a special place you've got.

[Manise]

A belated Happy Birthday- hope you had a great day! Cassie sent me- I just got back from vacation and fortunately missed the deluge. Reminds me of NH S&W last year. Very sobering....

[Cassandra]

I hope you had a fab day yesterday! And a wonderful year to come.

[scout]

Happy Birthday! And DAYUM about the rain.

[Rachel H]

Wait - Steph sang for you? I didn't get any singing. I think I feel slighted.

[Angie]

Happy Belated Birthday. The sun will come out soon and dry all this weather away.

[Cheryl]

Happy Birthday!! Well, Happy belated birthday. I'm a day late and a dollar short.

[Silvia]

Happy birthday to you! Hope you have a lovely day and eat some cake.

[Cassie]

What??? How did I not know? Happy happy belated birthday!
Mwah!

[anne]

wow, that waterway is awesome. it's so cool that you have right in your backyard (we have a parking lot in ours, and early in the morning you can hear the gentle sounds of people tearing into work with their country/rap/pop music blaring. or the garbage trucks grinding down the backstreet . . . it's the new nature).

i really hope you don't end up flooded.

[lanea]

Happy birthday, and stay safe from the floods.

[carrie]

Wow, those are some awesome nature pictures. Happy Spring, and Happy Birthday!

[Lissa]

Happy birthday Juno! I hope it was marvelous.

[Mel]

Breathtaking, isn't it?

Oh, and I'll add my H.B. to the rest. :-)

[Stephanie]

Wow. I think that's the first time your creek scared me. Much water.

(And I'm not wishing you a Happy Birthday again. The singing was enough.)

[Gina]

happy birthday!

[Romi]

Happy happy birthday! May it be the best year yet!

Stay dry. We had flooding where I live last year. It sucks. Big time. All the best luck!

[Heather]

Have a happy birthday, and may the best of your years be yet to come.

[Jess]

Beautiful pictures!

Happy birthday, too! I hope you had a lovely day :-)

[Julia]

Happy Birthday!

The weather is no better here. If this continues I may have to throw the cats, and as much yarn as I can fit, into the car and head south. Ugh. Here's to an end to all this!

[Dee]

Happy Birthday Juno, many, many more.

[Diane]

Happy Birthday! I shall pull out some of your liberated sock yarn and contemplate it's future in celebration.

[Imbrium]

And here I've been praying for rain, and I was so excited to go to sleep last night to the drops pattering on my window.

Happy birthday, girl. :)