Wednesday, June 29, 2011 :: Common sense?

Conditions around here...

• River, for some reason, has been going down a little bit today, down to 26.16 right now. It's really laughable that that sounds like good news. The river is still nearly 10 FEET ABOVE flood stage.
• Looks like we may see some isolated thunderstorms in the next 5 days. When we went thru the flood in 1993, we found that when the temperature gets hot, the area water (lots of it) evaporates quickly and seems to cause pop-up thunderstorms. It's a vicious cycle.
• The water has invaded the field just on the other side of the highway from our place. It is hard to see because the corn is over head-high, but Dustin thought the water was, on average, 6 inches to a foot deep. Enough to kill it, that's for sure. Guess what we have to look forward to? The smell of wet, soggy, dying, rotten corn plants. Oh, and yes, we own this field, too.
• The water is in our yard in the very very lowest parts, no more than 6 inches deep on average. No real water pressure on the outside of the dike, although there are some pockets of water in the low spots where Dustin pushed up dirt for the dike. The kids are trying to figure out how to get a kayak out there...which would mean we need to actually own or borrow a kayak. So if any of you have one you'd like to loan to some bored river rats, for testing in about 8 inches of water, let me know.
• Is the water still coming in? Yes, but it does seem to be slowing down. Either that or we're hoping it is slowing down.

A few funnies...

I was at Walmart yesterday, and Brooklyn wanted to look at the fish. While there discussing which fish we liked the best and why, a Walmart employee asked me if we needed any fish. This tickled my funny bone so much, I about couldn't start laughing. All I could think was, "No, I might have all the fish I'd ever want before long anyway!"

I also sometimes worry about people's common sense now-a-days. I really don't think there's much of that left. And I understand people have to be covered for liability issues, but seriously, when we have to post a sign like this in an area like this...

...well, what does that say about common sense? It's not even like there are barricades to stop someone from inadvertently heading down that road. <sigh> THIS situation should be a no-brainer.

This road is actually east of us about a mile, so we now have water in 3 directions. Thankfully the highways were built up, so there has not been any issue getting in and out. 

Here's another photo from 3 miles to the west of us, shot south down the highway towards Big Lake.

With water this deep and a fairly strong current, one wonders what will be left by the time this is over.

Tomorrow is Clayton's 7th Birthday. I actually managed to decorate a basketball cake for him (thanks Danielle for baking the cake!!) I feel bad that he should only have to think tomorrow about enjoying and celebrating his birthday. But at this point I do think I feel worse about it than he does.

And as for my new favorite song for the day, click here to hear it online...I'm not so thrilled about the actual video, but at least you can listen to the song. It is very appropriate for us, right now.

We WILL Praise God in this "storm" and know that He will lead us, teach us, comfort us, and grow us through this process. Easier said than done, let me assure you. 

  

Tuesday, June 28, 2011 :: Are YOU a flood victim??

First of all, if you're interested in the T-shirts, I will be taking orders thru the weekend and placing an order Monday morning. IF you would like one, they are $10 each, with 2XL and 3XL being $12 each. I can order kids' sizes, too. We are planning to order both charcoal shirts with white print, and light gray shirts with deep red print, if there's interest for both. Something like this (use your imagination)

These are mock-ups of what they (hopefully) will look like. So the actual ones might vary slightly.

I know they say "Flood Victim", and some of you may not feel like you are a flood victim. Well, I would answer that with, "If you even just live or work near a flooded area such as ours, you are indeed a flood victim." Have you had to take an alternate (much longer) route to get somewhere because of flood waters or closed roads? Do you own or work at a business that has felt the effects of less traffic and less money going through our area? Do you realize a disaster of this magnitude affects everyone, from the grocery store, to restaurants, to the parts store, the body shop, and the fertilizer plant? Including families who work there? Do you realize people will not come to Big Lake for vacation, bringing revenue to the county? Or people from here, heading elsewhere to vacation, taking dollars to that part of the country? The loss of crops up and down the Missouri river basin will mean higher prices for farmers, but that means higher prices for basic food items for everyone. Trucking lines have to find alternate (longer) routes around flooded roads, meaning higher shipping prices. 

So whether you feel like a flood victim or not, we ALL will in some way feel the effects of this.  I don't say this so you will buy a T-shirt, because this is really not a money-making venture for us. It is a "spread awareness" kind of thing. I'm hoping people will wear their T-shirts diligently, and spread the word about the damage that has been done. That it will be a constant reminder that this doesn't just affect me, it affects us all.

For more info about the T-shirts, click here.

As for what the water situation looks like around here? Water is still coming, slowly but surely. The following photos were taken from an intersection 2000 feet south of our place (less than 1/2 of a mile). I shot these looking east, then south, then west. We own all of this corn. Well, I would say the Army Corps of Engineers owns this corn, but they just own the water.

Also, over on the other side of the levee, here's an irrigation pivot of ours that apparently got flipped over during the massive windstorm Sunday night--whenever you see pivot tires up in the air, especially sticking out of floodwater, that's not a good thing.

We're still in our house. Looks like we will be for a while since the water is moving in so slow. And maybe, just maybe, one of these days the water will actually stop moving.

Tomorrow night--I'll include a song that has meant a lot to me today. It's by Casting Crowns...any guesses??

Monday, June 27, 2011 :: The Good, The Bad, and The Smelly (AND preview our new T-shirts!!)

The Bad...
Last night, it rained ALL--NIGHT--LONG. No, let me rephrase that, it POURED, ALL--NIGHT--LONG. Well, it went through spurts, let's put it that way. It would blow and POUR and lightning and thunder for what seemed like an eternity, then it would settle down to a gentle shower, and just when I was drifting off to sleep, it would start up again. I do know it POURED at least 3 different times. I was right, it was NOT a very restful night.

The rain amounted to about 3 inches. Our nice dry ditch was full this morning, which was not a good sight to see, but had drained away by evening. We also got some massive amounts of wind, which Dustin thinks may have blown over or snapped some of the corn we have  had left. We also got some hail last night, so I'm sure that didn't help the few fields of corn we have left either.

This 3 inches will increase the water in the Little Tarkio Creek which will raise the threat of breaking there. It will also fill in low areas, along with the backing-up river water. We'll be keeping a close eye on things and PRAY FOR NO MORE RAIN for a while.

Also in bad news, the river reached a new record today, 27.26 feet.

The Good...
I've lost 4 pounds in the last week, despite eating close to nothing but JUNK. We also had an enjoyable time yesterday at our church for the kick-off to our Sports Crusader's Basketball Camp. And I'm starting to get a feel for how simplistic our lives can really be. The book I was reading before all of this started is called Organized Simplicity, and I feel like our lives right now could be summed up as DISorganized simplicity. We are definitely living a simple life, it's just when you're looking for something, it's UTTER CHAOS. I can't even begin to tell you. One other GOOD is that we know that God is in control. And that's a good thing, because it's for sure the Corps of Engineers is NOT in control. (As much as they'd like to claim and think that they are...)

The Smelly...
#1) Today I went a mile or two west, over the Little Tarkio Creek levee, and the water has been there long enough that all of the dead corn and plants are starting to s-m-e-l-l. Just imagine the worst port-a-potty you've ever been in, and yeah, that's pretty much how it smells. And yes, it's that strong, too.  
#2) Last night when it started to hail, Dustin and I ran outside to get his pickup put into the garage. We knew the ramp to the semi was in the way, so we started (in the rain, wind, and hail...and in our pajamas...) to throw boards from the ramp off to the side. I got to the last board, started to move it, and saw LITTLE CRITTER LEGS under it. I thought maybe it was a rat (not that we have rats around here very often, but we are on a farm) but Dustin glanced and yelled, "It's a SKUNK!! Run...run...RUN!!!"  We ran into the garage and thankfully it did not spray us. By that time, the hail was pretty much over, so Dustin decided no pickup in the world was worth getting sprayed by a skunk for, and we went back to bed.

When I told my sister this story today, she said, "Your life is like a movie!"  Well, ya know, we do what we can to provide entertainment for y'all!

We have exciting news--soon we'll be taking orders for un-official 2011 flood T-shirts! My brother, on a whim, designed a T-shirt for us, and we will actually be taking orders as soon as I get a definite price and color options. But, for now, here's a preview, and if you want one, check back tomorrow for more information!

And of course I got some photos today, so here you go:

This is about 2 miles west of us--it is the irrigation pivot next to the Johansen driveway, for those of you who know what I'm talking about.

See all of the corn stalks along the water's edge--that's part of the reason is STINKS so bad over there.

Inspired by others around us, we "decorated" the ONLY yard ornament we have. He has never had a name, so I think we'll name him Titanic. He sits outside out back door, ready to greet you!

The Sportsman's Lodge is a hunting "lodge", restaurant, and bar in the town of Bigelow about a mile east of us.

Yeah. Well...that's just enough said. I Photoshop'ed the names out for their protection. :) It is safe to say people around here aren't really happy with two entities...the BNSF Railroad, and the Army Corps of Engineers. I'm not even going to start about the Army Corps of Engineers, because whether they're to blame or not, it doesn't change the fact that A LOT of our crops are drowning (and dying...we don't raise rice), and water is 1/2 mile south of my house, and getting deeper all the time.

And with the river topping today at 27.26 feet, we should know pretty soon what the water is going to do, where it is going to go, and how deep.

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Wow, I just read through yesterday's post and could you all tell I was falling asleep while writing it, or what??!!?? The good news is we ALL slept in until 9am this morning, but don't tell anyone because Dustin would be totally embarrassed if anyone knew that! ;)

Well, the house is pretty empty, at least all of the big stuff like furniture, and all of our books. Apparently when you homeschool, you own a lot of books. (I really should keep in mind that there is such a thing as the library!) But it is a relief to have everything loaded and out of danger. And a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who helped move us out!! Does anyone remember where the remote to the TV went?? (Just kidding!)

Not a lot of update today other than these facts:

• The river is at 26.66 right now. Things really started breaking just a little over a week ago when the river reached 26.6, and since it has taken a recent dip and is climbing back up to a projected 27 feet by 1am Tuesday morning, we'll be watching for things to start happening again. Never a dull moment. 
• We are right now in a Severe Thunderstorm Warning, and a Flash Flood Watch. How funny is that?? A Flash Flood Watch!! Severe thunderstorms would not be a good thing right now...and I just heard some very loud thunder!!
• The water on the other side of the levee actually went down a little in the last 24 hours. But with the river going up again, it will probably go back up some.
• The water that will eventually reach us is still about 1/2 mile south of us, but has filled in a little more.

Once again, a Sturgeon at the water's edge....call the wildlife people and make sure they know things are going great around here on that front....

Anyway...yes, the water is not too far away, but the great news is the lowest part of our yard, our front ditch looks like this:

Nice and dry! Although I'm betting by next Sunday, this will be a completely different story. And sometimes I find it very hard to believe all of the things that have happened in just the last week. That first levee over by Big Lake broke last Saturday, and everything has filled up since then!

Here's another glimpse into our lives right now--the kids have changed their play habits around here, so from now on you might see things like this...

No, we don't make her play with a swimming tube on...we usually make her wear her life jacket. (I'M KIDDING!)

Also, in the clothing department, Grandma bought us these new T-shirts at the restaurant in Bigelow, just a mile to the east of us:

 The front says, "The Sportsman's Lodge and Marina, Bigelow, MO, Flood 2011"

And so you all know I'm not the only one with a sense of humor through all of this, we went for a drive today to check on water levels and drove by this house up by Craig. Click on it to see it larger.

That has inspired me...maybe I'll have a picture of a new yard ornament to post for you all tomorrow!

And now it is raining hard, and blowing....should be a restful night, that's for sure!

Saturday, June 25, 2011 :: Water slowly coming fast

Things You Should Not Do on 2 Hours of Sleep
You should not...
1. ...wake up an hour early to the sound of light rain when a) you live in a drastically flooded area with floodwater threatening your home and b) several people have told you "Well if you get a big rain up north, you should get out fast."
2. ...have to deal with the fact that the light rain quickly developed into a torrential rain complete with lightning and thunder.
3.  ...receive this sort of a phone call from your husband, "Call EVERYONE you know that has offered a covered trailer, get them here and pack up EVERYTHING."
4. ...try to find your list of people who offered trailers to call them. You also should have written down everyone's phone numbers on your nifty little list so that calls could be made quickly and easily in a state of panic.
5. ...make decisions of what goes out the door at what time, to which trailer, to which location, in what order...etc. After a while, you just start second-guessing yourself or completely not caring where they put the coat rack shaped like a banana. (What? Those of you who helped us totally missed the banana coat rack? No, you didn't. I'm teasing, we don't own a banana coat rack although that would be fun to see!)
6. ...continue at rocket speed for hours, watching all of your belongings being loaded up, knowing at some point they must be unloaded, but not knowing where or when that will happen for sure.
7. ...see the sun come out about the time we're all done loading, then wondering the rest of the day with the shining if you did the right thing.

Well, if you haven't gathered, we've packed up, and in a little more of a hurry than expected. The heavy rain this morning about 7am caused a bit of panic in this household, and we were trying to get out as fast as we could because we weren't sure if the rain would ever stop, and if the levee would hold. PTL the rain DID stop, and the levee did hold.

The bright side--we don't have to worry at all about getting our things out of flood-zone.  The not-so-bright side--we are in a state of utter disorganization. Like you cannot imagine.

On the water side, the water is currently filling up our area quickly, although it is not rushing in light a freight train. Here's the view from about 1/2 mile south of us:

If you click on it to make it larger, you can see there is a little water right here, but just a little ways down this road? Solid water. Don't worry, it IS coming in fast, but not rushing rapids fast. Things are just filling up fast. We'll keep an eye on it. We are not going to put ourselves in danger, so don't worry.

Oh, and one more thing to add to the list of  "Things You Should Not Do on 2 Hours of Sleep?" Try to stay awake long enough to write a blog post of any sort.

Friday, June 24, 2011 :: Add this to the list....

Ok, so add this to the list of things I never thought I would see/do/hear/say:

I now have a huge semi parked out back of my garage, ready to be filled with all of our junk valuables.

Yes, we are starting to load things up. I have not received the "word" from my amazing husband to load everything, just the things we won't be needing access to for a while. That's ok, those things needed to go in first anyway. How soon will we load up the rest? That depends. (Yes, it always depends, doesn't it.) Mainly it depends on the rising water.

With the recent levee breaks (that are actually a ways from us) water has now entered our corridor of land, and is actually filling backwards fast. It is currently about 4 miles south of us. When I say "fast" and the water is "4 miles south of us", fast does NOT mean it will be here by morning. It also is not coming as a wall of water ready to engulf us. It is flowing fairly quickly to the north, but it is shallow, filling up the lowest areas first, and it would probably have to reach depths of 4 feet or so down there before we even start to see much in the ditches. Of course I'm not the expert in this department, so don't quote me on that. All I know is that water is coming, and it is coming faster than everyone thought. Ya know, I'd really have preferred it come slower than anyone thought it would, not faster, but apparently I didn't get a vote on that.

I wish I had photos for you today, but I didn't get any, sorry. I'll try to get some tomorrow! For now, I need to get organized! Now, where did I put my post-it notes???

Thursday, June 23, 2011 :: Well I never...

Things I never thought I would hear, say, or do....
1. Today I found myself passing out styrafoam bowls and spoons to a line of 20 prison inmates, 1/2 mile from my home. A friend of mine was dishing them out ice cream.
2. Someone told me, "I don't think there's any way fish could get into our house unless we leave the doors open."
3. Also overheard,"Where would be the best place to put these life jackets for the kids in case you need them to get out of your yard?"
4. This evening you could find me in the sandbag assembly line with almost 10-month old Kristin strapped to my back. I was opening the empty bags and handing them one by one to the machine operator for filling. (We had a sandbag machine.) I don't really know how long we did this, but if felt like a couple of hours. My other kids were either helping me or tying sandbags....do you think I can count that as something educational in the homeschool log??
5. When we finished sandbagging, my kids worked together, without any prompting from anyone else, building this:

What is it, you ask? Our house with a dike around it. What? Your kids don't know how to build a dike around their house??

The status of things, wow, I'm not really sure what to tell you because there are still so many variables. I know a couple of other levees broke down south by Forest City. And there at least was water coming into Fortescue today. (5 miles south of us) Dustin doesn't seem to think it's time to get moved out, but if I'm honest with y'all, I'm getting a little nervous. He has assured me at this point that the water at Fortescue would come slowly if it reaches us at all--UNLESS we get a big rain directly north of us, like Fairfax area. So pray for NO RAIN FOR FAIRFAX FOR THE WHOLE SUMMER. (Sorry Fairfax area farmers...)

We do have a trailer ready nearby, an army of help lined up, and now lots of stuff already boxed up. Actually, the hard stuff is boxed up, so that is good! I've also already moved out any priceless possessions like photo albums because I didn't want to risk getting them lost in the shuffle. <sigh> It's taken 6 women 2 days to just do what we've done so far....can you imagine how long it will take me to unpack it all????

So, that's where we're at. And I'm still exhausted. But God is good, all the time. And I have a LOT to be thankful for. I'm especially thankful today for super-helpful friends--both the ones that have been here and the ones who may be here in the near future! I think I'd be floating down the river without you!!

And with that, I leave you with a few photos from the day...

 A building over at Big Lake, about 4 miles from our house. (photo by Ryonee Curtis)

Inside the fence? The swimming pool over at Big Lake State Park....looks like someone left the water on! (photo by Ryonee Curtis)

My kids are going to be so well-rounded after this--sandbagging is now a family affair! 

Playing on the piles of sandbags when we were done.

Earlier today, the inmates filling sandbags.

Also earlier today, the machine wasn't filling bags fast enough to keep them all busy, so some of them started filling sandbags by hand.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

I'm exhausted. Do I say that every update? Because I'm starting to feel that every update.

1.  For those who have been telling me to pack up and move out, this should make you a little happy...

For those of you who have been begging us to call you when we move out, relax. We are not moving out yet. We are simply getting things ready to go out the door. Five precious friends helped me make 40 lunches for workers today, and then stayed and helped me box up the contents of the play room/school room and things we don't need to have access to for a while. They--were--awesome! One even drove over here from Nebraska, all the way around thru St. Joe! (Thanks, Kristi!!) And honestly, if I'd have had any more people, it would have been too much. So don't worry, if you've offered to help, we WILL call you when Dustin says it's time to pull the plug completely. But for now, we're just getting a few things into boxes....

Two things I have come to realize, WE HAVE A LOT OF STUFF. Wow. And it's really too bad I don't have about three fifty dumpsters parked out back of my house. Or if I lived in town I could just put it on my street corner and put up a sign that says FREE, and then watch it disappear. Maybe I'll put it out in my driveway, and let the river float it down to St. Louis or something.....

So, that's what I did today. I did take a little drive this evening and get a few photos for you all. (Yeah, like I'm really taking photos just for you all...)
These were taken not quite 3 miles from my house.

I'm sure the Army Corps of Engineers will be thrilled to see they have saved the wildlife. (Heron standing on the side of the highway--click to load larger photo.) Going along that lines, I found this article quite informative and a little maddening.

Yep, this is a highway. That 55mpg Speed Limit sign is for VEHICLES, not boats. This is the intersection 2.7 miles from my driveway.

As far as status for the day goes...
1. The issue with the tube 1 mile to the west of us continues to be an issue. I think they've tried just about everything to fix it, to no avail. So I believe they're building a dike around the area the tube is draining into, and may just have to keep it pumped out. Pray that this gets resolved, because it could develop very quickly into a much bigger problem.
2. About 9 miles of the levee has been closely inspected for badger holes, and any that were found have been filled in. Not to say we saw every one, because these levees are covered with tall grass. But at least it has been inspected as much as possible.
3. The river reached a new all-time high today and is currently at 26.82 feet. The graph will about scare you to death...well, at least if you live around here.

4. Great news (not) from Gavins Point (the dam releasing all of the water affecting us)--they increased their release from 150,000cfs to 155,000cfs today, and will go up to 160,000cfs tomorrow. They say that water will be here sometime around the weekend. I assume this is going to be their release rate thru late August, of course unless they increase it again. I'd still like a copy of that news show I watched that said the ACOE said the river would not run more than 25 feet. Yeah.

Tomorrow, we have between 20 and 25 prison inmates coming to help fill, tie, and stack sandbags. Some of "my ladies" are coming back to package up meals for these guys, and whoever else comes to help from the community. Should be another exhausting day.

Every day there are funny things happening. One is things that are said.  Someday I'm going to start keeping track of things said at our house that are hilarious, if you don't know what the context was. For example, today my friend Pepe (pronounced Peppy) said, "I wouldn't leave anything behind that you don't want raccoon poop on." Sometimes I truly feel like I live in the twilight zone. Especially since this was said in the midst of a conversation about whether or not to move the mattresses from upstairs out or not.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

First a quiz for you all! (Don't worry, just one question.)
How do you prepare for a flood if you don't have the ability to build a dike around your home?

You tie a boat to your front porch. Ok, I probably shouldn't poke fun because (a) his house probably has water in it by now (it's over by the levee I was on top of yesterday, yes, the one that broke) and (b) because it's looking more likely that I may have a boat tied to MY front porch in the very near future.

Ok, status of the day....

I truly believe that there is always something to be thankful for. But, as my husband told me today, it seems like that list keeps getting shorter every day. Seriously, we've taken some serious hits to the hope we had that our home would escape the flood. It is starting to look like we might go under, and we are trying to prepare (mostly emotionally at this point) for that prospect. Don't get me wrong, we of course still hope that will not be the case, but are seriously preparing for worst, just in case. Here's what's gone on today...

1) Big Lake is completely flooded. Last I heard, the water level was very very near the record set last year. Mind you, there were homes that had water up to the gutters last year. I wonder what will be left in September when the water finally goes away. So sad, and I truly feel for those residents over there. I know many of them have moved out and are not returning. Ever.

2) The Levee I was sandbagging on yesterday is gone. Water is moving in quickly and will flood the town of Craig very soon, if it hasn't already.

Both of these issues are bad, but did not put our home place in imminent danger. Well, these next factors listed below have moved us much closer to the imminent danger zone. We have always been protected by the Little Tarkio Creek levee. To visualize what this means, imagine a stream with 2 very high and thick banks built up on both sides of it. Oh wait, I have a picture:

I'm a little off-center, but you can see what I mean. Most of the time there is a minimal flow of water between these two levees. When we get a bunch of rain directly north of us, the flow increases to the point of it being bank-full, as in almost as wide as the photo. I can only remember witnessing it truly "bank-full" in 1993 when the flood back then was caused from rain around here. Not rain/snow from somewhere else.... Anyway, on the west side of this double levee, there's Big Lake, Craig...and well, a lot of water right now. On the east side, there's us, Bigelow, and Fortescue to the south of us about 5 miles. (Refer to that map I posted a couple of days ago if you're having trouble following....)

1) So issue #1, the water is so high on the Big Lake side, it is spilling over the west Little Tarkio levee, causing what we call "The Tark" to raise significantly. Yes, that is 5 miles south of us, but when the water has no where to drain out of, and water is pouring in somewhere, the water level raises all the way down the line eventually. 

2) Issue #2 is that north of us, there's a tube somewhere the goes thru the west Little Tarkio levee that is letting water pour into the Tark from the flooded side. This again is raising the water level of the Tark. 

3) Issue #3, 1 mile directly west of us there's a tube thru the east Little Tark levee (what we call "our side") that has some kind of problem. It is letting water run back thru the tube and fill the ditch on our side. The problem is that we cannot get it stopped. And they've tried all day. They don't know what the problem is, but they know it must be fixed or....well...yeah. THAT is the project of the day for tomorrow.

4) Issue #4, badger holes in the Tark Levee. Badgers are nasty little creatures that I'm sure are a result of the fall...they're like moles on steroids. They tunnel thru the levees creating homes holes that can become a serious issue when the Tark is running high for very long. The water will find those holes, flow thru them to the other side, and if the water flows thru long enough, it will eat away the levee until there's a full breach. We check for badger holes every year, but we're talking 5 miles of grassed levee with the possibiliy of badger holes on either side of it. And if the water goes up and comes down fast (like it usually does), they don't always create  a problem. But if the water goes up and stays up for...let's see, what are we up to...10 WEEKS, well, that's plenty of time for the water to get thru those badger holes. So, the guys were walking the levee today, filling every hole they could find with...what else? Sandbags. Gotta love those sandbags. (On a sidenote, Clayton was trying to pack a sandbag into the Suburban today, wanting to take it home for a souvenir. I didn't even know where to start with that.)

So, as you can see, worries issues abound. But we are still thankful for many things. And I've come to realize that when you take one day at a time, things aren't nearly as overwhelming as if you try to ball up all of the worries of the foreseeable future into one big worry-wad. So, that's what we do, just take one day at a time, and let that worry-wad go. Matthew 6:34: "Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

But I do sometimes think about the future. And I wonder what it will be like to have a normal summer again.   I just might be downright bored.

Oh oh, and one last thing before I forget, I've been just dying to tell you all about our newest feature in the neighborhood. We are proud to announce that just down the road about 1/4 mile east, they have now placed a lovely port-a-potty along the side of the road. Yep, that's right. All by it's lonesome. We're thinking about moving our couch out to the front porch because we're starting not fit in very well around here.

Monday, June 20, 2011 :: Things I learned from...

Subtitle: Things I learned on top of a muddy levee with the Missouri River on one side and an 8 foot drop into a corn field on the other...and with 40 prison inmates on either side of me. (Is that too long to be a subtitle??)

First, let me set the stage for you...
I was being taken out this morning at 8:30am to get some photos of the broken levees and such. We no more than left the house and Dustin got a call that changed our plans and we found ourselves on our way to sandbag. Fast forward a couple of hours and here I am, standing on top of a very muddy levee, with about 20 prison inmates on one side, and 20 on the other side, passing down sandbags. It looked like this to my left...

(Note: Water is probably 6-8 feet deep outside those rows of sandbags, and drop down into the corn field is the same on the opposite side. Also note how great the area we're standing on is for sure footing. Or not so much.)


As if that isn't bad enough, to my right is this...

(Note: See that big hole in the levee...it was still getting worse while we were sandbagging, so we figured if this whole thing was going to go, it was going to break right there. My mother-in-law was working beside me...we were devising a plan in case it really did go....)

Now, in front of me...about 6-8 feet deep...

And behind me...

(Note: It is hard to see, but this side dropped down into the corn field...a corn field that is now currently under water.) Anyway, this is where I found myself for a very good part of the day today.

And I have to tell you, there are some things to be learned from this vantage point...such as....

1.  When going out into the flood plain, wear overboots, or at the very least brown socks. Because if you end up sandbagging, your socks are going to end up being brown anyway.
2.  If you have to wear tennis shoes, be sure to tie them up VERY TIGHT. Otherwise, goodbye tennis shoes in about 12 inches of mud.
3.  Be sure to use the bathroom before you find yourself on top of said levee between 40 inmates.
4. When sandbagging, just count on getting sand in your mouth...and your hair....and your ears...and your clothing...and your.......
5.  If you're going to sandbag all day, you might want to eat more than one Tweenkie at 4:00 in the afternoon. Otherwise you will get a headache.
6. While drinking your bottle of water on top of said muddy levee, do not drop the lid in the mud.  Without a doubt, do not drop the replacement lid your mother-in-law just gave you from her own bottle of water into the mud. This is just bad, people.
7. When water starts running around the row of sandbags on the bank in front of you, do NOT just throw another sandbag down into that area to stop it. You may stop it, but you will end up with mud splattered all over you...and all over about 4 of your neighbors. This does not help morale. Instead, lay the sandbag down nicely.
8. When you neighbor is about to throw a sandbag down in front of you (or him), be sure to close your mouth first. Did you know raw sewage is prevalent in flood water???? Did you also know that flood water tastes really really bad??
9.   Do not tell other people that in a flooding situation, we don't do things that are typically foolish......

(Note: He's going up the side of the levee, so once he reaches the top, he has about 4-6 feet on top of the levee before it heads back down on the other side...INTO THE RIVER.)

10. Appreciate the irony of passing bottles of water down the sandbag line. There just seemed like there should be something wrong about that.

As for an update....this very levee that we worked so hard to save, broke in at least a couple of places this evening. And although this still doesn't put our home in any immediate danger, it still is sickening since the farmer's worked SO HARD to throw this levee up in preparation of the oncoming (or should I say down-coming) water.

So, since I can't seem to keep my eyes open writing this post, I'm now going to bed. Tomorrow, I will not be throwing ANY SANDBAGS. Well, unless someone needs me to......

Sunday, June 19, 2011 :: Fighting bigger battles

Wow, I forget how insanely hectic things get when things around here start "breaking loose", no pun intended.

First, flooding update...
1. River Stage is 25.39 feet and steadily climbing again. I've come to the conclusion that at this point, they really don't know how to predict river stage for the next few days accurately (taking into consideration a couple of recent levee breaks), so I'm  just going to leave it at "the river is rising significantly again."
2. Big Lake continues to fill very quickly, with the Highway to Rulo now being closed because of water over the road. It is also over the road north of the lake on 111--in fact I was down there this evening delivering meals and water, and you should have seen the FISH getting stuck in the middle of the highway. (Now there's a phrase I'll bet you don't see every day in a Google search....) Please, don't go out to look for yourself....sight-seers are really just getting in the way of people trying to move out and build more measures of protection. And things aren't exactly safe--an area farmer who's pretty much been in charge of organizing the sandbagging and levee-building efforts told me tonight that the levee break that occurred yesterday is now about 225 feet wide. THAT is why Big Lake is filling up fast.
3.  Dustin, and his dad and brother, have all been out with the dozers and excavator (I think) trying to build some more of those measures of protection just north of the lake. On very little sleep. Wondering how long we can all keep this up. And we're trying not to wish the summer was over already....
4. We (our house at least) are not in immediate danger. Yes, the levee broke by Big Lake, and they are getting flooded now, but there is another levee between us and them. Of course the water is now just that much closer, but no, we are not anticipating moving out anytime in the immediate future. Of course things do tend to change quickly around here, so I guess you never know.....

As for the kids and I, we went to church this morning because we love our church and I couldn't stand the thought of missing it...and the fact that we had nursery duty and I also just couldn't stand the thought of 10 little 1-year-olds wandering aimlessly around with no one to feed them goldfish crackers and keep them from drinking off of each others' sippy cups...no, that's not really what I was thinking. See, these are the kinds of things I write at the end of an exhausting week, concluding with a grand total of 4 hours of sleep in the last 48 hours....  Dustin was out the door again at 5:30am...yes, on just 2.5 hours of sleep...and was back out "saving the world" as my kids like to say. Otherwise he would have been going to church with us. Anyway, we have so many wonderful friends at church who love Jesus insanely and who will cut off their right arm to help you if you want them to. Many of them read this blog to keep updated on how they can help us and pray faithfully, and to each and every one of them, I say thank you. Truly. And to the rest of you who have offered help and  pray faithfully, I also say thank you. Truly. What a privilege it is to be included in your prayers. We do not take that lightly. And I believe as a result of your prayers, God has been laying a couple of things on my heart today, so if you can bear with me, I'd like to share a little of that tonight.

1. Please pray for our kids. They know Daddy and Mommy are stressed out. They know things are in turmoil, despite our efforts to keep things as normal as possible. They have been asked to sacrifice swimming to make and deliver sandwiches to sand-baggers. They have been told to sit in the car while Mommy checks on crews to see if anything is needed. They have been woke up too early and put to bed too late on too many occasions. They have been yelled at when Mommy loses patience because they don't understand the meaning of, "Hurry, we need to go help RIGHT NOW." And all of this is starting now to come out in their own behavior. <sigh> Parenting would be so much easier if I wanted to be a lousy parent.
2.  Pray for us to remain faithful and strong examples, especially to our kids. A week or two ago, Dustin was mourning the fact that this summer is going to end up being drastically different than how he had imagined. For one, he is we are teaching our 9-year-old and almost-7-year-old how to mow the yard this year. He was really looking forward to walking them thru every aspect of this job, but some of that has fallen to me with all of the other "excitement" this summer. I don't mind, he was just really looking forward to it. He said to me, "You know, you only get so much time with your kids to teach them things, and now I don't get to teach them anything this summer because this summer is SHOT." But you know, we actually have the opportunity to teach our kids more than we ever imagined this summer. We're going to teach them how to respond to a crisis, and (hopefully) be a servant within a crisis. And I've come to realize those words are so much easier to say than actually do. But it is the "actually doing" part that shows what you really believe. And who you really serve.
3. There is so much to be thankful for. People have been so wonderfully supportive. Every day we get phone calls asking what someone can do to help. We get offers to help us evacuate, places to stay, provision of meals, and taking care of our kids. Honestly, on a daily basis I get these calls.  And I'm so grateful, but also so undeserving. There are people we all know who are fighting battles much bigger than ours. There are people who are battling life-threatening diseases, and injuries. There are people who are dealing with life-altering loss. Our situation seems fairly small in comparison to these. SO, can I ask something of you?? If you have offered to help us in some way, but are growing impatient that we haven't called in the reinforcements yet, then do something THIS WEEK to help someone ELSE in need. Take a meal, send a note of encouragement, make a phone call. Mow someone else's yard, take care of someone else's kids. Go ahead, put it in your planner if you have to. But do something. Because as dramatic and "exciting" as our situation is, we all know someone else who could use a little extra boost this week. (And don't worry, we'll let you know when we need you, too.)

Saturday, June 18, 2011 :: LEVEE BREACH

Well, it is actually 1:30am on Sunday, because I just got home from helping sandbag over north of Big Lake. Sad to say, a levee was breached today west of Big Lake, which will flood thousands of acres including the Village of Big Lake in the next day or two. (Refer to the blue shaded area on the map I posted yesterday...) We were sandbagging north of there on the new secondary levee in hopes of saving a different area, but the river is so high, I don't see how that levee will hold for the next 10 weeks or more. But ya gotta try.

For the last several hours, area men and women hauled sandbags by 4-wheeler, John Deere Gator, Tractor, bulldozer, and Skid Steer. The mud in some places was probably 2 feet deep. MUD. They started around 8pm in the light, and continued on in the dark. Some of them had not had supper yet. And whether or not it holds for 10 more weeks, these guys should be very proud of the effort they've put out in the last few weeks. An effort and sentiment that is sure to continue thru the duration of this disaster.

For example, when the sandbagging was over, it was announced that a neighbor was going to be moving out of his house overnight tonight. Yes, like right now. Some of these guys went over there to help. (Dustin came home and showered first, because he was COVERED in mud. But as soon as he was clean, out the door he went to help...yes, it is 1:30am)

So, what does this mean for us? Well, our house is still protected by the Little Tarkio Creek levee. But we are losing a farm with this new levee breach, or I should say losing the growing crop on that field. And the water will now be one step closer to our house and much more of our farm ground. And there aren't that many "steps" between flooding and not flooding.

So, one battle is lost, with many more battles to fight in the coming months. In fact, that Army Corps of Engineers announced two of its reservoirs are taking in more water than they are releasing, even at record high releases. So they are increasing the amount they are releasing from 150,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) to 160,000cfs.  They claim they are not increasing the 150,000cfs they are releasing at Gavins Point (the bottom-most reservoir that effects us.) But that water has to go downstream sometime, so I imagine they will either increase the amount, or increase the amount of time. Remember, the plan is currently to release this much water (and have the river this high) until late August....


For now, I'm exhausted, physically and emotionally, so I'm going to go shower and hit the sack. I will have my response to this situation tomorrow, but I thought for now you might like at least the facts.

Oh, and the river reached 25.88 feet today before the breach, has now dropped a little at Rulo because of it. Still predicting 26.4 by Monday morning. What ever happened to the Corps' statement, "The river will crest at 25 feet." ???

Friday, June 17, 2011 :: A Railroad-sized Dilemma

Things sure have been buzzing around here! No, not in a wet, squishy kinda way, PTL! In a flurry-of-activity kind of way.

1. A couple of local people (my husband being one of them) asked if I would start some kind of information hub for the area so people could stay informed and know what to do when something warrants action. Of course I had to think about that for all of about 2 seconds. Some of the information I post here will also be posted there, just minus the sassy commentary, but if you'd like to check it out, go to ruloflood.blogspot.com. 

2. The BNSF Railroad, who I mentioned in my last post, has been hard at work on the tracks at the south end of Big Lake still today. When it comes to flooding, BNSF isn't very popular. Here's why... (First, a map for those who are seriously visual learners like me. Click on it for a larger view. Hold Ctrl and click on it to open larger view in a different window or tab.)

The tracks (denoted by red on the map) south of Big Lake run east and west from the river to Fortescue, about a 5.5 mile stretch.  (Well, it runs further than that obviously, but that's the part that is a problem for flooding.) Wanting to make sure trains can get thru (which you can't blame them for), BNSF built these tracks at an elevated level, making them the highest thing in this insanely flat area.

To my knowledge (which admittedly isn't very vast in this department), the main area for drainage thru this built up 5.5 mile bank exists in the area on the map denoted in bright green. Can't find it? Look carefully, it is only about 150 feet wide. Yeah. THAT is the problem. Well, that is part of the problem.

When a levee is breached and water begins to flow inland anywhere north of those tracks, the water flows south and when it hits that bank, water starts to back up like filling up a bathtub, flooding the light blue shaded area and even more to the north. In the past, when the water got deep enough, it would flow over the tracks and on south. So simplistically, the height of the RR tracks determines the maximum depth of the water in the area shaded by blue. It also determines to some extent how far north that blue area will extend (which, by the way, extends much further north than I have shown here.)

People who do not understand this situation will say, "What's the big deal? If the area is already flooded, what does it matter if the water is simply deeper?" Well, what if 5 years ago you built a house and elevated it to a level safe from flooding based on past flood levels? That "safe level" is now drastically different because of the elevated railway, but you can't exactly go back and change the elevation of your home. The railroad stated in the newspaper it is raising the tracks by as much as 20 inches this week. They also raised the tracks just last year when flooding was imminent, although I don't know how much.

Also, many farmers who live or work in the area have built dikes or taken other protective measures to ensure their homes and critical assets like grain bins full of grain are safe from flood waters. When the RR comes thru and raises the tracks nearly 2 feet in a week, those protective measures will simply not be enough. And there likely will not be enough time to increase them, not to mention the question of how much more is safe now? Or next week? Or next year if the RR continues to do this? This very scenario is why last year Dustin helped a farmer take sandbags down the top of a levee with a 4-wheeler, loaded them on boats, "sailed" them across flood waters, and unloaded them on top of a dike surrounded by water to protect a neighbor's entire grain elevator filled with grain. The neighbor thought he was safe when the flooding began, but water got much deeper than anticipated, much deeper than ever before, because of the newly elevated rails.

Add to all of this, it is debated whether or not the RR needs to have permits issued by the county and the Village of Big Lake in order to do the work...before they do the work....in hand and on site while they do the work. The clerk of Big Lake and the county commissioner personally told me they do not have such permits. So, the area sentiment is that, while the rest of us have to play by the rules, apparently the RR does not.

Now, I'm not saying I blame the RR for trying to protect their line. I'm just saying, that's the problem it creates, and why people get real grouchy when they start to see things like this (below) every time they leave their driveways.

(Above) This is just PART of the work being done. Numerous rock trucks, excavator-type machines, bulldozers, etc.
(Below) This shows the fortification of the tracks, and the fact that even the rock piled to help protect them has increased in height.

(Below) The crossing has been raised, and from this photo you can begin to see how much.

I hope to have more news on this front when I (or if I ever) see my husband again--he has been in meetings with the Railroad all day. Hopefully they didn't throw him in the river...or the other way around.

Oh, and back on that map--the yellow star? That's our house.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Well, the good news is the secondary levee is still holding, and the guys are done reinforcing it in the area where the Corps levee broke. Dustin is really happy to be done (at the moment) running the bulldozer some 13 hours a day for the last 3 days. He actually just returned from driving the span of it to check on it, and being the wonderful husband that he is, he brought me some pictures, my favorite thing!

And I just thought this was pretty impressive. Especially when you think the Missouri River would be flowing through Big Lake and filling up thousands of acres of farm ground if it weren't for this levee. Of course the whole thing doesn't look this beefy, but wow is this part impressive!

The river is on its way back up (currently at 23.98 feet), so once it reaches higher levels again, we'll see if there are any other breaks in the Corps levee or a need to reinforce the secondary levee. If so, then back to the bulldozer he goes.

Other good news....we have internet of sorts, but hey, at this point I'll take anything. I got hooked up with Virgin Mobile and now have slow and unreliable wonderful internet service that works thru cell towers. Don't ask me to explain it, all I know is I'm not disconnected completely from the world wide web at the moment...and as long as that little router receiver thing sits in just the right place on my window seat...I know, beggars can't be choosers.

On the bad news front, the BNSF Railroad is messing with the railroad again....more on that later. For now, we have a T-ball game to get to, so I'm going to run. Thanks again for praying, everyone, that levee is holding...hopefully it will hold clear to September!!

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Last word from the hubby is that things are still holding north of Big Lake. He, along with many others, have been there for the last several days fortifying the secondary levee that was built in the last few weeks. The question is, can it hold until September?

Some have asked how close the danger is to our place. Well, if the secondary levee breaks north of Big Lake, our home still has a measure of protection from the Little Tarkio levee. However, we will lose some crops, and our neighbors will lose homes and crops. This also brings the waters one step closer to more of our farm ground and our home. And one step closer is never good. 

To answer the question, "What would have to happen for your home to be threatened?" well, there are a lot of variables. All I can tell you for sure if that in 1993, the water that was getting close to threatening us was coming from the south. If Fortescue floods, the water will begin backing up north-wards and possibly, eventually reach us. The thing about water? It always seeks its lowest point. And it keeps coming until it has a place to go. Case and point....

Here's a map showing the spreading of water from day to day from the levee break near Hamburg:

The water, if it keeps coming, just keeps spreading. And since the one factor we know for sure is that the water will keep coming until late August, then we also know for sure that once a levee breaks and the water starts to get in, it will be massive wide-spread flooding. This is just unlike any flood we've ever experienced because of the known longevity of it. As the Army Corps of Engineers likes to say, "We're in uncharted territory." Yeah. Let's hope we stay in DRY uncharted territory at that.

10 Blessings for today

1. A dry yard...so far.

2. Friends and family willing to take us in at a moment's notice, for who knows how long.

3. Safety.

4. A hard working husband and in-laws that work feverishly to protect our home and livelihood, not to mention countless neighbors and local businessmen who are hard at work as well. 

5. An army of friends willing to help us move out at a moment's notice, even in the middle of the night. (No, it is not likely we will experience that kind of evacuation, if any, but it is nice to know we wouldn't have to do it all alone if it comes to that.)

6. McDonalds free wi-fi (and friends' free wi-fi--even from their driveways!)

7. A God who is at work for us and within us, even in the midst of fear, chaos, and destruction.

8. Colored post-it notes.

9. That we will not experience this kind of flood.

(A little irony here--this is my all-time favorite print and it sits on my mantle.)

10. A dry yard...so far. (Did I mention that already??)

There's always something to be thankful for. Let us be the kind of people who always find something to be thankful for, rather than the kind of people who always find something to complain about.

Big Lake levee break aerial video

This is a video (below), done by Barnes Realty (thanks, Jamie and/or Rick), of the levee break between Big Lake and Craig. Last word I heard today is that the secondary levee built in the last few weeks by our local guys is still holding. A second hole was made in the actual river levee so that the water coming in the original break would have a place to flow out of. They did this to relieve the pressure on the new levee.

I believe you can see the second "cut" at 2 minutes in the video, and the original break at 3:30.

I know Dustin is over in that area today pushing up dirt with the bulldozer to help fortify that secondary levee. He didn't want us to bring him lunch because it is not exactly the safest location to be right now. Hmmmm.....  Keep praying for safety.

We've seen a drop in river level today, but that is because of the breaks I'm assuming. Looks like they anticipate it starting to come back up later today and continue to climb.  

One thing to remember, river levels will flow this high or higher until late August. I can't even begin to imagine.

Levee Breaks

Well, the water flow begins. Although these two levee breaks do not directly threaten our house, the one near Big Lake will potentially threaten some of our farmground, and any time there is water in the area, the threat increases to surrounding areas, like our house. My heart goes out to those now directly impacted by the water.

The levee breaks, from what I have heard, are near Hamburg, Iowa, and somewhere north of Big Lake. The secondary levee built by local people near Big Lake is holding at the moment, but I read somewhere they anticipated that levee would also eventually erode and break.

We also got reconnected to the internet briefly this morning, but received word this afternoon that our internet provider pulled the equipment out of Big Lake (where our internet comes from) in anticipation of the flooding. So, no more internet for us until the flooding recedes. I still hope to update, but they may be quite brief (if I have to use my iPod) or less frequent. I am thankful for free wi-fi at McDonalds, but not sure I want to make a trip into town every day.

Once again, please pray for safety. The guys want to do everything they can to keep flooding to a minimum, so they're running equipment and such, where needed. And accidents do sometimes happen.

Monday, June 13, 2011 :: Learning not to panic

Mid-day update today since we were without internet yesterday so I didn't get to update last night, except from my iPod using McDonald's free internet. (And for those of you who have an iPod or iPhone, you know how fun it is to type anything of much length on those things!!) And thank you Mr. Sam for restoring my internet--you are my new best friend...for today.

Currently, the river is at 24.66 feet and still rising. Dustin....well, before I tell you all this, promise me you won't show up on my doorstep in the next 3 hours ready to pack me up, ok??....Dustin just left the yard after receiving a phone call that I could visibly see upset him. When I asked him what was going on, he said something about a levee sloughing off on the Big Tark and he was going to go investigate. And here's why we're NOT going to panic...
a) We don't know if the report is even true.
b) If it is true, we don't know how serious the issue is.
c) If it is true, and it is serious, we don't know which side of the Big Tark the supposed issue is on, or even where the issue is at.

So we're just going to all relax until we have more details. Either way, this is not the scenario that would cause an emergency evacuation of our house. I have a feeling we're going to be going through a lot of these hypotheticals in the next few weeks. I guess things are happening around here, even if it is just panic. So if you're praying for us, I have two new requests,
1) That we  everyone would remain calm and of a sound mind. (2 Tim. 1:7: God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and love, and a sound mind.)
2) That our kids would be strengthened (and not be an emotional mess by the time this is over with.) We are trying to keep things as normal as possible, but we don't normally have totes in their bedrooms with lists of things they need to pack up on a moment's notice in case we have to move out, particularly for the rest of the summer. And we don't normally see a 6 foot dike every time we drive out of the driveway or look out the window.

No photos from yesterday, but here's the current hydrograph for Rulo (click for larger view):

Yeah. And just so you all remember, the pinkish color at the bottom is moderate flood stage. Purple, major flood stage. Blue line (current river conditions) or green line (projected river conditions) in either color, bad.

Family news--we're planning to bake some cookies and take them to the Railroad crossing people today. (I have to stop calling them guys because there are some ladies, too.) I figure we'll just bake a ton of cookies and keep them in the car so we can pass them out wherever we go. Chances are good we're going to be around a lot of people in the next few weeks who could use a cookie or two.

UPDATE: Just heard there is an issue on that levee, but not a major one and they are bringing in equipment to work on it. So keep praying.

River up half a foot already today--at 24.5 feet. No levee breaks that we know of yet. Played t-ball with the kids in the yard today. Hope the yard isn't under water by next Sunday!

Sent from my iPod

We may have lost Internet at the house, so if you don't see an update for a while, don't assume we floated down the river!

Sent from my iPod

Saturday, June 11, 2011

The river rose significantly today and is currently at 24.1 feet, with an estimated 25.1 feet on Tuesday. We have not heard of any levee breaks as of yet. People are getting a little tense and there is an anxious undercurrent as the banks of the river disappear just a little more underwater.

Dustin and a bunch of other guys (and a few gals) did some sandbagging today on the Missouri riverbank, just north of Rulo. The kids and I got to see them for their lunchbreak...

He's in the red hat and plaid shirt.  For those of you who saw Dustin on TV last week (ever-so-briefly) and have seen other photos of him here, he really does own more shirts than just that one brown plaid one. But I do know it is one of his favorites....obviously.

They used 4-wheelers and "Gators" to transport the sandbags down this narrow levee to place them anywhere the levee was just a little low.

The "community spirit" around here is amazing. I guess maybe because they know that only by working together will we minimize losses. Either way, there are so many people who give of themselves, night and day, asking nothing in return. From equipment like bulldozers, scrapers, and excavators, to the people who operate them, to the women who have provided meals for them for the last few WEEKS, it's really neat to see such a spirit of generosity, servant hood, and teamwork.

Other news...
Big Lake State Park closed a week ago, but when they said it closed, I thought they just meant the cabins and campground. No, they meant EVERYTHING. You can't even get in there to ride bikes or put a boat on the water or anything.

In the bad news department, we heard that crop insurance may not pay this time and that our flood insurance on our home simply won't pay. I'm not even going to put into print exactly what we heard, because it could very well be rumor, speculation, or hype. But whatever it is, that kind of news is not encouraging. As if we needed additional things to worry about at this point.

On the family front...
We had T-ball practice this morning, helped serve lunch to the sand-baggers (not really, more like we asked if there was anything we could do to help, but Rita had it all completely under control, so we just stood around the looked like we were helping.) Did some more household sorting this afternoon (but refrained from more post-it notes...for now at least), and went to St. Joe for Clayton's Birthday present for the end of the month. Now, I'm tired and going to bed. But before I do, I leave you with one last (maybe) shot of those guys at the Railroad tracks....because, well, because there are some things you never fathomed seeing in your entire life, and this, for me, is one of them. Finally a time when people replace machines as the better option.