Photos of the Platte River were taken on March 24, 2009. The last 2 pictures were taken feet from my yard. The submerged areas photographed were, in previous years, a dry river bed. I apologize for the poor quality, its was raining hard yesterday afternoon and traffic on the roads where these photos were taken from was busy.
Filed under Life, Minnesota, Uncategorized
By this morning the Platte River had risen considerably and the water has continued to seep into the basement at a rate of about 5 gallons every half hour. It was a very long night last night, and obviously, I’m almost too exhausted to type.
If the river continues to rise at the current rate, I estimate that it will breach the river bank in 2 days..if I’m lucky. The ice and snow has not yet melted completely and the rain continues to fall at an alarming rate. For the first time in a long time, I’m afraid.
I called the city this afternoon and asked the receptionist if the they had discussed an emergency plan for Elm Street, since it appears certain that the street will soon flood. The woman at the city said that no one had discussed the river yet but that they should, she said she’d contact public works right away.
If I felt afraid earlier, her reply terrified me. The river is not only moving faster than I’ve ever seen but its a few feet from breaching the river bank and the city hasn’t even thought about it? It certainly doesn’t instill confidence. Worse yet, we have maybe 2 days before the river spills onto the street, so its too late to think about sand bagging. It is also important to note that the lowest point in the river bank is directly across from the side of the house. Also the street is higher than my neighborhood so the water will without question flow towards my house and my neighborhood.
Within a few hours I saw a public works truck drive up Elm Street…then another, then a squad car, then a city truck, hours after that the DNR arrived. I watched as they all stood talking in the rain for a very long time, no doubt discussing how monumentally screwed we all are. After that Elm Street went from being a city street that saw about 2 cars a day, to being a parade route.
Do you ever feel like you have to think for everyone?
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Filed under Life, Minnesota, Uncategorized
I was listening to the local news today and they were talking about the flooding in the Red River Valley area. I looked out the window watching the rain fall and considered volunteering to assist in their sand bagging effort. As I contemplated my schedule and watched the rain from my home office I noticed that I could see the the river from where I was sitting.
I live on the corner of 1st and Elm Street. Elm Street runs along side of my house and is more the size of an alley than an actual road, I assume this is partially because there are no more than 2 houses actually on Elm Street. It is this narrow road that separates my yard from the banks of the Platte River. I assume the reason the house is so close to the river bank is because the structure is about 107 years old. It’s been completely renovated from the floor up as well as added on to. Today, there are more rules and local ordinances regarding set backs from rivers and lakes, rules that didn’t exist when this house was originally built. Being able to see river water from the main floor of my house inspired one response from me. I turned on my heels and headed for the basement where I found standing water at the base of the stairs.
Shit!
The only upshot is that the basement flooring is ceramic tile because the house is so close to the river. Whoever put in the large squares of ceramic tile was also smart enough to put in a floor drain. Unfortunately, the drain was placed inexplicably on an incline which renders it almost useless unless the water level gets significantly higher.
For the past 7 years I’ve operated an online bookstore called Madeline West. The basement level of my house is where my library is housed. The books listed for sales on my website weren’t effected because the water had not eeked into that section of the basement. What was damaged was the boxes of unappraised books nearest to the basement door.
Instead of volunteering to sand bag the Red River Valley, it seems my week is completely booked. It’s going to be a very long week of clean up and the rain is expected to continue on for remainder of the week. It seems I need an emergency plan, the water levels on the river will without question rise.
Filed under Fiction Writing, Life, Minnesota, Minnesota Fiction
I’ve spent the better part of the last week stripping old boarder paper and giving my kitchen a fresh coat of paint. I couldn’t get the wall color to photograph true to the real color, which is darker and closer to a meadow green color.
As with any home project, I’m still under the weather today. I’m allergic to dust so any activities such as this always has repercussions.
You’ll find the before picture at the bottom but I didn’t think to snap a picture until after the boarder paper was stripped…and yes someone really did paint it lavender.
Filed under Life
I was on Google Maps this morning and typed in my own address just for kicks and end up in the rubish bins alongside my garage. I was stunned when I navigated up the street viewing my own back patio, living room windows, the windows to my home office then turned the corner to pan the front of my house. I strolled down the street far enough to see that my car is not in the driveway but that my son was home. The neighbors garbage bins are on thier sides which means that it is Wednesday, trash collection and recycling day in my neighborhood.
I’m shocked at how” in my yard” and “on my patio” this is!
101 S. Elm St. Royalton, MN 56373 (this isn’t my actual address but compensates for Google’s approximation.)
It’s got a “Big Brother” feel don’t you think?
Filed under Life
I’m redecorating my kitchen, a project that’s been on the back burner for too long. When I moved in over a year ago the kitchen was lavender with a pastel boarder paper. I know…semi gloss at that. The room looks like it belongs in a mobile home park and doesn’t match the rest of main floor. The main bathroom is just as bad because the walls are stenciled so its also on the list to be painted…and so is the upstairs bathroom because it’s flaming orange! Really! Sheesh, who does these things? Nick’s bedroom was orange too but we painted that room before we moved in because the walls were screaming for mercy:)
With Lexx’s upcoming graduation and subsequent graduation party and the publication of Mary Warner‘s most recent book, Greenville: Where Longing Meets Loss, it was time to roll up my sleeves or should I say dust off the power tools and get house is ready for some very big parties.
Everyone will have to wait patiently until I’m finished.
Oh, and I want to say thank you to whoever answered my prayers about the snow…its all melted now and my back yard is a lake…literally. My tires are half buried in my mud driveway and the side streets are so deep with water that I was afraid my engine would quit somewhere in the middle of the pond. I’m running out of passable streets!
On the subject of tires…why do mine have nitrogen in them?
Filed under Life
Why do guys think I need help in the automotive department? Seriously, do I look in the least bit lost or confused? If its just an excuse to talk to me, I don’t mind but let me give you a hint…if you’d like to get to know me don’t begin your conversation with me by insulting my intelligence.
Oh and as far as the “didn’t know girls knew much about small gas engines…” comment. I’m no expert but I’m pretty sure I have a small gas engine on my lawn mower, snow blower and dirt bike, not in my Pontiac Vibe.
Filed under Books, Fiction Writing, General, Life
Bernie Madoff isn’t in jail but Annette Yeomans is? Yeomans is the bookkeeper who embezzled millions and purchased
over 400 pairs of shoes. If Bernie Madoff’s crimes aren’t serious enough to warrant tossing him in jail, surely any civilized person with an appetite for shoes could understand Yeomans weakness.
I mean lets be honest, it’s not like any of us went to see Sex and the City to witness Carrie Bradshaw and Big’s wedding. We went for the clothes, we went for the shoes, we went to see a fictitious and mythical man give a woman a really BIG closet.
When I first heard of Yeomans crime and the 400 pairs of shoes my heart skipped a beat just thinking about 
a room fill with that many shoes! All the different styles and designers she could slide her feet into, I sighed. There are things that I can live without but there are also things that just shouldn’t be missed.
To hell with ballet flats and kitten heels… give me legs that go on forever!
I like to bake right before the holiday’s. This year I invited family over on baking day, pulled out the ornaments and decorations and served cookies, hot cinnamon rolls and drinks as people came and went during the day . It was loads of work but I enjoyed it so much that I’ll definitely do it again next year with a few changes. I especially loved that so many people added ornaments to the tree and embellishments to the house and the cookies.
Unfortunately some of the cookies that came out of the oven broke and they lingered on the table undecorated until Rachel arrived. Rachel is my son Benjamin‘s housemate and girlfriend. As I pulled trays of cookies from the oven she visited with me and began mending the broken cookies, fusing their decapitated heads and disemboweled bodies with frosting. It was so Nightmare Before Christmas I was sorry I didn’t break more cookies in the process of baking finding them darkly entertaining and befitting to our holiday history.
For years we topped our tree with an angel. We were very poor the year I bought the angel tree topper, she was affordable but didn’t look very angelic…more evil and she never stood erect at the top of the tree, she leaned forward with her wings spread like she was hawking over us…leering. Over time she became known among family members as our Archangel* and long after we could afford to replace her she maintained her place atop our Christmas tree fusing us together with memories of dark humor and harder times. Holiday cookies with stitches fit right in even if Rachel was too new to our family to fully realize it.
Throughout the holiday season the decorated cookies were stored in tins and eventually were pared down to a single plastic storage container where a single disemboweled cookie got stuck to the side of the container. I left him there because it made me laugh and even after the container was completely empty he went undisturbed out of fear he would break. On random occasions I’d talk to him and even ask his preferences as to the evenings dinner menu… he noted a marked preference for lamb.
Cookie is no longer stuck to the plastic container and has since taken up residences on my baker’s rack in the kitchen. Next Christmas I’ll bake a girl cookie named Ginger with Angelina Jolie’s lips, plastic surgery stitches and a bent for short, bald guys who smell like sweetened vanilla.
*In true biblical fashion the Archangel perished during a flood in 2004 …really.
Filed under Cooking, Events, Fiction Writing, Food, Holiday, Humor, Life, Minnesota Fiction, United States
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