When It Rains, It Floods

Like I said before, winter here is wet. Spring even more so. Since November, we've had two flooding scares. The first time was the most emotional for me. We weren't prepared in any way for it. It's not a flash flooding situation, more of a five-foot-high-and-rising situation (though, not five feet high, thankfully). The water rises high first from the field across the road from us. The creek floods there and then Pescadero Creek floods coming down our road from the other direction. When that happens, our house is in danger of major flooding. Our place is already raised about two and a half feet from the ground, but when it floods, we're still in danger of our floors getting soaked. Yuck. Our landlords will be raising the house even more in the coming months, though we're not sure when. We assume they'll have to wait until reliably dry weather which isn't until August and September. 

That first flood of the season was a doozy for me. Not knowing what to expect, I ran around the house like a madwoman, collecting all of what we deemed to be "favorites" and boxing them up to either put up high or bring with us in the car. I found gifts from friends who've passed away and took photos out from their frames. In hindsight, much of what I did to prepare was an overreaction to the situation. I was scared and a newbie to the whole situation so I'll go ahead and excuse myself. That experience left me a bit numb and I questioned whether to decorate for Christmas, but in the end, I did and I was glad.

The second flood took place the night before Christmas Eve. We were calmer this time. Most things were still arranged for easy pick up and removal. And this time, we saw it coming. The timing was a bit crazy as we were out of town that morning, but we got home in time and packed up to go stay at a cabin the owners provided for us. Driving up to it, Birch and I immediately relaxed. It was beautiful and serene. If we had to be out of our place for Christmas, this is where we wanted to do it. The morning of Christmas Eve, we checked our floors at home: all dry and the water was already draining from the yard. We were so happy and relieved as the water had risen higher than before and we were nervous driving home. We spent Christmas Eve and morning cozy and grateful at home. We awoke to our Christmas tree towering above us and clear light shining through the window. It was a clear, beautiful day and we were right where we wanted to be.

 

These experiences also just furthered that spring cleaning bug we've been feeling for months. That ongoing project of perfecting our various systems and routines, the purging, the journey to Less Stuff. You'll hear more of that another time.

It should also be noted that both floods were a dream come true for Keats...