FLOOD!

What started off as a normal, rainy night and morning at The Pinery soon changed drastically to a flood!!! For family & friends who know The Pinery and the area around us, you won't believe these pictures. It's unbelievable how quickly the water rose today. Never before have we seen anything like it. A flood like this has not occurred here since 1935. Yup. No joke.

Jim was off getting our car looked at by a mechanic, while I started my solo afternoon by walking Ian in the stroller to bring on his afternoon nap. The water has been high since we got here, but not too bad. As I pushed Ian in the stroller, I realized that the water was much higher than I'd thought. It was up below the swing by the river.

The County Emergency Department sent a truck to tell us all that we should either leave today or plan to stay stuck for the night, since the water would be high. What? I've never experienced that before. And Jim was out?! Oh no.

I called the mechanic and asked to speak to Jim, since I couldn't reach him. I explained the situation and offered that if he couldn't get home, then he could probably stay with my aunt Beth.

After returning to the cabin, I left Ian to sleep on the porch, being serenaded by the birds. The weather is very mild here. As I sat writing and reading and gazing at my sleeping baby, I noticed that I could actually see the water from where I was sitting; this is NOT normal.

 After he awoke from his nap, I found the swing like this!

 And walked down the road to find it covered!!! Soon after I met and joked with a few of the neighbors (Simko & the Riggs), the knot in my stomach vanished as I saw Jim pull into Ella's driveway and wave as he walked toward me. Whew!

When he got to us he explained that he'd been unable to come from the other side because it was blocked. He was the last car allowed across the bridge by Cooksburg because water was starting to come over the bridge!!! The ranger said they expected the water to rise to 21 ft, but it was only at 13 ft then.

 Creeping up...

 Dad's earth oven!

Whoa! Stop right there, please!!!

We moved everything we could to the upstairs, just in case the first floor flooded. Bikes and kayaks were moved up the hill, but Bob's incredible wood pile floated away.

 Haha!!

 Rigg's backyard...

 Yup, it's right there!

 Your eyes are not deceiving you. I promise!

 Because the breaker box is in the barn, we turned the electricity off just to be safe. Tonight we're sleeping in the Riggs' home.

 This is The Pinery's yard... you know, where we normally play games?

 No joke.

 The road...

 The Riggs' basement flooded, but there was still time for a beer.

You know, sometimes you just have to laugh, sit back, and enjoy the ride.

What a day! A perfect capstone to our wild week. Haha.