Caring Concern for a Flood Damaged Home

This may well qualify as the shortest blog I've written yet - I'm feeling worn out tonight.

Yesterday the mason was back at work - finishing up the preparations for the garage floor concrete to be poured next week.

He inquired if a particular day next week was an OK day with me - for the 'pour day' and I said yes - that day worked better than he knew. I will be receiving a brand new garage floor on my birthday this coming week. I'll certainly never forget what day or year that floor was installed by having it done on that occasion.

The first photo today is showing the newly created and installed frost wall. The mason was working on it during the early part of this week and finished it up yesterday.

Once he'd filled all around the wall with stone - next came a bit of soil cover too. Soon he was working hard at laying down wire - strong wire - in the area where the new garage floor will be poured.

The mason tells me having wire will make the floor stronger - I trust this fella at his word.

He created a walkway for himself in the garage - he told me walking on the wire is difficult and a bit hazardous. He's clever and soon he resolved that problem.

You can get a glimpse of the frostwall in this photo too if you look closely.

While I was taking photos I snapped one of the doorway the flood demolished - the mason is slowly building up concrete support in that area. Eventually this will all be covered with a layer of mortar and look much more finished.

This area in the doorway will also be a lot safer once he's done with his work and it's no longer a danger to walk underneath dangling stones.

While I was talking with the mason in the morning - when I stopped down for the day's photo op's - he started talking about what a lovely home this is that we have here in Afton. He said he admires the setting - the forest around two sides - how peaceful it is here - and best of all - it's a wonderfully well made home too.

He marveled at how even though we are far from the river, how there is a large rise in the land the floodwater would need to climb to even reach our driveway - it still flooded so deeply. I guess as he's been working - he's been thinking about the flood as well.

The day before a problem had come to light - the garage floor wasn't pitched quite corectly - the one he's now removed. The problem was - what do we do? Do we correct the problem or install it just as it was?

In correcting it - other problems would come up. There would be a drop near the garage doors of about 3/4 of an inch. That's not so awful - but in turn that would led to a step up to go through the doorway that connects that garage to the other two.

If we raised things at the other end - to come out right by the garage door - we'd make it impossible to open the Family Room door without buying a new door. Lower at the garage door end meant calling the garage door guy back to change the door installation. Slope the connecting area meant the connecting door would have a large gap underneath the door.

It was clearly a case of 'one thing leads to others' sort of problem. Sort of like painting a doorway in one room and then you have to paint it in the next so it matches - then you'd better paint the next rooms wall - they look shabby now next to that new doorway paint. You get the idea.

That's when I told him this was one time I'd say "Install it just as it was before." I went on to explain that the flood has not left me with much to work with - I can't afford the corrections to all the other things to do the floor correctly - and if that's how the old timers did it - they had a good reason and I'd side with them. I also explained - I want to fix the house well and with great respect for it's history - and then we need to sell it and move to a home that doesn't flood - if that is humanly possible.

He understood - though I have an inkling my choice has made his job a bit more difficult - but he did not question my judgement one tiny bit. He understood all the reasons behind my choice and accepted that decision.

And I think that's probably when he started thinking about the house in relation to it's flooding a bit more. And like myself - he's feeling a tad-bit sorry for this lovely home.

We talked about that a bit yesterday - this guy hasn't even seen any of the house other than the lower level and he's feeling sad for it. He's appreciating it's history - the loving hands that put it together so very well - and he hasn't even seen the best part yet! His deducing is only coming from working in the underbelly - can you imagine what he'd be feeling once he saw the beautiful stone fireplace that commands the living room - or the layout of the rooms - the high ceilings - every inch of this home tells the story of having had very caring and protective owners - all throughout it's history.

He walked me to the back wall of the stone foundation outside and he said - "Look at that! Look at that straight line! No one - no mason today could build that wall as well as it is today. It has stood the test of time! It is perfect!"

I understand - that's why I chose this house. I could tell it was built well and well taken care of over it's lifetime - and we are talking over 100 years of time - the main house dates back to 1879 or something along that line - at least 129 years. I think it's older to be honest - the 'mansion' it belonged to as a carriage house was build in 1839 or something like that - so I tend to think they had the carriage house soon afterwards - it only makes sense.

That's when I mentioned how peaceful this home is - it's peaceful, pleasant and happy. He's noticed that himself - and he's only been working here a week. There's just something good within this home and if you spend more than a few moments - it becomes very clear.

He's hoping the flood was a fluke - that maybe it'd never happen again here. At the same time he knows I'm telling it straight - it wasn't a fluke. He's seen the damage done. But like myself - he wants to wish the flooding away.

If I could wish flooding away - I'd wish it away for the folks in Texas. I'm worried about my aunt and uncle. I worry about everyone there in the heart of Texas. They have been under some awful conditions for a week or more now.

The blog had two visitors today hoping to find lawn advice. Flooding has damaged their lawns. One was from Texas and one from North Dakota. The only advice I can offer those folks is that our lawn was damaged by the flood too - and without any help from us - it healed itself and we have a lawn again.

We had black areas where we knew there had to have been oil from something. A neighbor had a bright abnormal greenish-yellow area that was pretty darn big - somehow Mother Nature healed it all.

The only area that hasn't come back 100% was where the town had to use a bucket loader to pick up our debris following the flood. That bucket dug down in and caused a lot of damage. I paid a landscaper to come and repair the lawn but he didn't do a great job of things. He was not generous on replacing the missing topsoil and it shows. He was not generous on grass seed either. I've gotten a better grassy path growing in the woods than he did on the front lawn.

My best advice for the folks looking for flood damaged lawn advice - fill in any holes and scatter a heaping helping of grass seed - and sit back and let Mother Nature take care of the rest. It will come around and you'll have a lawn once again - in about a year's time.

Today's thought: There are always others who are suffering much worse than we ourselves our - lend a hand or a prayer.

'Til next time, Pam

The Not Undermined Garage Floor 'Theory'

I happened to notice yesterday - day 365 post-Invisible Flood of 06 - I've written 361 blog entries.

Considering I didn't start the blog until a month after the flood - I've done a lot of 'talking' about our experiences since that time. I don't think it will be stopping any time soon - since we are only now - a year later - in the beginning stages of our structural flood recovery work.

If a person were to read through all this writing I've been doing for the past 11 months - it's a safe bet that you'd find I predicted this time-lapse that became reality. I'm not a bit surprised that only in the past week have we finally been fortunate enough to begin our real repairs.

Today's photos are an update on the 'completely undermined and hollow' garage floor.

As the mason has progressed in his removal of the garage floor - I've been keeping tabs with the camera in hand.

A few days ago this photo shows the mason had just a little bit of floor left to remove. It also is meant to show you that there was still only one small area that was actually undermined - you see it there on the left side of the photo.

The next morning the mason was hard at work breaking up more of that concrete floor with his electric jack-hammer.

The further back into the far reaches of the garage he exposed - an undermined floor was still not appearing - except that one tiny area. Interesting to me was that the more the floor was removed - the more you could step back in time and 'see' that this home was indeed once a carriage house - that garage became more 'barn-looking' by the day.

He did find a lot of tiny root systems under the garage floor in the area where the jack-hammer is sitting in this photo. He was interested in having found those roots - and also that he found what looked to him like a 'salt' deposit in the exact same area. I'm beginning to think he's an observant and curious person - like myself. I'm glad he takes a moment to share these interesting 'finds' with me too.

The following day - as the jack-hammer started up again - I stopped down to take a closer look at that huge undermined area under the garage floor.

That's it folks - and this photo is showing you the largest pocket of airspace we found under the entire floor.

The back left corner wins the award for being the most undermined. Oddly - that was not an area either of those structural engineers even tapped with their hammers. Nope - that corner had something sitting on top of the floor when they were tapping those hammers all around - they didn't bother to move the cooler that had been there.

As the mason has been working - he did make yet another discovery we both found interesting. Along the wall - the one near that tiny floor undermining - he found a few small holes in the wall.

The mason tells me there were wooden beams installed in those areas - long, long ago in the history of this carriage house having been built. He summarized his theory - the wooden beams rotted over time and left behind those holes. You are able to still view the remainder of those wooden beams above floor level - they are still in place.

I went up to the house and brought back a flashlight. After explaining to the mason I dare not kneel again for the remainder of my life - expecially not now - since my knee is mending quite well - I asked if he'd humor me and get down to sub-floor level and take a look-see inside that hole with the flashlight.

Once again - I knew I'd made a great choice when I hired this mason - he kindly took a look and reported that the hole did not go much further than the space the wooden beam had once filled.

Whew! That made me feel a lot better - having that information. I'd already begun visualizing the entire undermining of the adjacent two garage floors - the ones those structural engineers told me were just fine. I was beginning to have my doubts about those engineers and I didn't want to find out I needed two more floors ripped out and replaced.

A day ago I stopped downstairs at the scene of our floor repair work and the mason informed me he'd found 'the real proof' of the floodwater under the last corner of the floor.

He dropped everything and showed me what he was talking about. It's here in this photo and I know it's going to be hard to view.

The floodwater created a swirled area in that back corner - if you try - you might just be able to pick it out in this photo.

It not only made the swirling area - it also made a slight channel too - as the floodwater was trying to make it's way towards undermining the Family Room floor too.

I stepped back and took a photo for the blog. That's it folks - the worst of the undermined floor - right there in that far back corner.

Depth-wise - it's probably an inch or two deeper than the other photos I've been showing.

Knowing it's hard to photograph dirt and have the photo come out showing what it is you're trying hard to show - I stood a lot futher away and gave one last try.

Maybe if you click on the photos and enlarge them - you may or may not see a single thing I'm telling you about this morning. If you can't see it - I surely understand because I only pick it out in the photos because I know what I'm looking for.

After the floor was completely removed - all the other rotted out wooden beam areas came into the light of day. This photo show two more of those areas.

The mason tells me they are of no concern - not to worry. They will be sealed up well once the new floor is installed. I trust him - he knows what he's doing. He's as happy as I am that those structural engineers were so wrong about the floor.

Now that the entire floor is out - removed - and it's underneath area has been found in pretty good shape afterall - it leads to that theory I mentioned I have as to why two structural engineers mistakenly thought the floor was totally undermined.

In the interest of 'educational purposes' - and to share this theory of mine - I took a few photos of the concrete remains of the floor. The mason had conveniently stacked a few piles of them now and then as he broke the concrete floor up with the jack-hammer. They were right there when I went to take a photo or two - to 'show & tell' this theory of mine.

The mason mentioned early-on in the floor removal process that the concrete was a 'bit different.' If you look at this photo - you can see how it has a gray top coating and an odd looking underside.

Our mason pointed out how odd that lower part of the concrete mixture was - "It wasn't a poured mix for sure." He believes it was hand-mixed or small machine mixed and it also included a lot of river rock type material.

One good feature of this odd concrete mixture was it's lightness - or so the mason told me. He said typical concrete would have been much heavier to lift and a lot harder to break-up.

What I noted was the 'frothy' or airy appearance of this concrete mixture. If you zoom in on the photo you may be able to see the tiny air pockets or what were at some point in the past - air bubbles. You should be able to see some of those rocks that were mixed in also.

My theory is that when those structural engineers were tap-tap-tapping around on that garage floor - it didn't sound 'right' to them - and that's what led them to believe it was totally undermined. They were expecting the hear the sound of typical concrete ringing back into their ears - and it didn't. They even went to the next two garages and tapped those floors too - to verify the sound of a floor that wasn't undermined.

What they failed to take into consideration - was that the other two garage floors are newer than the one they thought was hollow. Even to this blogger - who knows next to nothing about concrete garage floors - it was obvious the one was quite old compared to the other two floors.

They also - in failing to note the age of the concrete they were tap-tap-tapping - didn't allow that a floor of that age may have been mixed differently - much differently - than a more 'modern' and recent floor of today would be mixed.

I think they were hearing the sound of all those air pockets within that particular concrete mix - it was coming back to their ears with a 'hollow' sort of sound. I think it was an honest error on their part - as far as the sound feature goes - but they should have taken into consideration the age difference between the floors and should have gone a few steps further in their analytical process - before making a misdiagnosis. Afterall - isn't that part of the job description for any type of engineer - using analytical thought processes?

Today's thought: When you do anything - take the time to do it well. Even small mistakes can become very costly.

'Til next time, Pam

Day 365 - Post-Invisible Flood of 06

A year ago today - about the same time as I'm writing this morning - the Invisible Flood of 06 was busily destroying and damaging not only our home and possessions - it was doing the exact same thing to thousands of other families and individuals here in the Southern Tier of NY and PA, and several other states as well.

Our Invisible Flood of 06 was delivered by the Susquehanna River and all the streams flowing into it. The Susquehanna managed to flood an awful lot of homes, businesses and everything else in it's path along it's 444 miles of length. The streams did their share of damage too - along the way to the river - I don't want to forget to mention that important feature of our flood.

The Susquehanna River is - in fact - the longest river on the American East Coast. If you want to learn more about the river - Wikipedia has a section ready to provide you with lots of 'Susquehanna River' facts.

It wasn't the river's fault though - it didn't plan to flood us last June - it was only doing what a river is forced to do when it has more water draining and falling into it than it can handle. Our flooding was brought to us compliments of the particular set of weather conditions that unfortunately happened to stall off the east coast - somewhere around NC - during those closing days of June 2006.

If you use the link above to learn about the Susquehanna River - you will also find information about our flooding event. On Wikipedia they have labeled our flood the "Mid-Atlantic Flood of June 2006" - and they mention that the Binghamton region was the hardest hit area. I guess this blogger would disagree with both the name they've applied to our flood event and to that suggestion that the Binghamton region was hardest hit.

As with everything the truth lies somewhere in the middle-ground. The areas around Walton and Sidney were hard hit, Hancock, Deposit, Bainbridge - they all took big, big hits. Even little old Afton suffered the impact of the Invisible Flood of 06. The truth is - no one from those areas have added their stories and information there on Wikipedia yet - that section is awaiting input and updating from folks other than whomever has started that particular section.

My guess is - the folks in those other truly hard hit areas are still just too darn busy trying to repair their homes and lives to give much thought to updating the "Mid-Atlantic Flood of June 2006" section on Wikipedia - if they are even aware that's what our flooding event is being listed under. The only reason I'm aware of it carrying that title is due to having stumbled upon it on Wikipedia months ago while I was reading up on a different topic.

I thought for a while this week about what photo I'd like to show today on the blog. I could have rerun the photo of the flood visiting our lower level - or of the flowers as we headed off for the shelter. Maybe new photos of the debris piles - ones I have yet to show here on the blog - they might have been 'fitting' photos for this day 365 days post-flood.

None of those ideas felt like the right idea - but this one does: here for it's first blog viewing - an honest-to-goodness flood artifact!

What you are viewing today is actually a blue glass gazing ball - cobalt blue of course - since it's my favorite color and glass preference. As you can easily see - it's still covered with flood-mud. I thought the flood-mud gives it that 'proof of authenticity' - it's a true Invisible Flood of 06 relic!

You might be wondering why I kept this dirty blue gazing ball when we tossed away so much else of our lives following the flood. Why keep a flood-mud covered glass ball? And why the heck hasn't it at least been cleaned up by now since I decided to keep it?

It's blue glass - I couldn't toss that out! No Way! I even kept the remains of the cobalt blue mirror glass from the top of the flood destroyed circa 1940's coffee table. My sister lovingly and carefully bagged up all the shards of that cobalt blue mirror glass in the days following the flood - taking great pains to place each shard into that bag with gentle loving motions to ensure no further breakage. She knew the heartbreak that broken blue mirror glass would deliver once I were aware of it's breakage having happened.

The truth is - 365 days post-flood - I haven't had time yet to grieve any of the items we lost during the flood. I don't even want to think about them unless they happen to pop into my mind once in a while. Even then - I let it go - shake it off. I have the memories and no flood can remove those - the memories are mine to keep - totally flood-safe in my mind.

I kept the blue gazing ball because it's part of the story of the Invisible Flood of 06. And I purposely did not clean it - I wanted to keep that flood-mud attached.

The night the floodwater started entering our home - while we were all fast asleep upstairs - that blue gazing ball was sitting down in the garage on a workbench. It was waiting for me to decide where to put it outside in our yard. It's concrete stand was tucked into a corner behind the back of the house - up against the elevated back porch posts.

Attached - with only some sort of glue I happened to have around at the time when I did the attaching - is a concrete base. The base fits nicely over a matching piece on it's concrete stand and keeps them both sitting snuggly together.

The blue glass ball - attached by glue to a hunk of concrete - was sitting on a workbench in our garage as the floodwater came flowing into the garages - higher and higher - until finally the blue glass and concrete attachment were floating around down below in the early morning hours just past midnight on June 28, 2006.

I vividly remember my waking due to the sounds of 'clang-clang' coming from below our bedroom - accompanied by the smell of something 'fuelish.' I often wonder if the clang-clang sounds now and then were made by the blue glass ball hitting a floating shovel or rake - or bumping into the flooded furnace or hot water heater.

There were a host of floating objects down below that early morning - and of course it's left to the imagination to imagine that blue glass ball floating around in that floodwatery pitch darkness filling our home.

It amazed all of us - once we returned home and started hauling out the destroyed contents of our lives - when that blue glass ball was discovered - and discovered completely undamaged and at a distance from the workbench where it'd been sitting prior to the flood. Other than the dirty flood-mud covering it's lovely cobalt blue colored glass - it was whole and without a single blemish.

Even the concrete base - so cheaply and quickly glued on many years prior - was still attached. I wish I knew which great brand of glue that was - I'd tout it's wonderful abilities here on the blog - it is truly a flood-worthy glue.

We still - even now - marvel at the fact that the blue glass ball survived the flood. How was it that it didn't break? How could that happen - how did it survive all the floating impliments of destruction that were it's fellow floaters during the flood?

A couple months ago - that 22 year old son of mine spied the blue glass ball sitting in a corner of the former Tool Room downstairs. He quickly told that lovely girlfriend of his to "Come here! I've got to show you something amazing from the flood!" She was - of course - sufficiently impressed at the sight of a blue glass ball that survived the Invisible Flood of 06 with not a single bit of breakage.

There's a post-flood lesson - a message - to be learned from that blue glass ball and it's survival. I'll leave you to form your own opinion - while I retain it - exactly as we found it - covered in flood-mud and completely whole.

Today's thought: There are magical and miraculous moments in all of our lives - even during the darkest days. Our job is to notice they're there and add them to that pile of blessings that carry us through the rough times.

'Til next post, Pam

The Prelude to the One-Year Invisible Flood of 06 Anniversary

The anniversary of the Invisible Flood of 06 happens sometime tonight - either right before midnight or soon afterwards.

The weather gods had fun with us this afternoon - we've had a couple of decent rainstorms - complete with high winds, branches flying, a small tree coming down over the fence, lightening to be awed by, and even a touch of hail - not to mention a brief power-outage. And that was all while my daughter and I sat in the car in the driveway - waiting for the storm to pass.

It finally did - after we sat in a sweltering car a good half-hour - getting a little bit worried we expire from the heat before the storm exited.

The second storm came on that one's heels about an hour later. The second one made the sky grow dark but it lacked the punch of the first storm - though the second storm did manage to make one of the house's shutters come loose and flap in the wind.

The mason is good as gold - here again bright and early. Today's mission was to dig a large and deep hole to create a frost-wall to protect the soon to come new garage floor. He discovered there wasn't a frost-wall currently and highly recommends one be in place to protect the new floor he's in process of creating. I agree with him - I like work done right the first time.

I also think - in my post-flood mindset - that having a concrete frost-wall will be an additional barrior for the next flood to have to find a way to get through before it can attack the structural integrity of our home again. Post- flood - my mindset is always in flood mitigation mode - it's become a way of life and of thinking.

Today my thoughts - and actions - have been pretty scattered. I almost felt like cheering the storms - way to go! - give us another memory refresher of last June 27th. Except today's storms fell far short of what we endured last June 27th.

I thought of our old cat Copy - he died on the eve of our Invisible Flood of 06. He was an older cat - and a favorite. It was rough losing him and rough driving to the vet during the deluge that was going on at about 4 in the afternoon prior to the flood.

Returning home that evening - after having gone to the old homestead for the burial - we saw the river beginning it's spill into the field across the street.

Wow! Were we ever naive last June 27th - we hadn't one clue what was to happen. We had the nagging worry going on - not sure what might happen - but never did our wildest imaginings imagine the reality of what we eventually faced by the next breaking dawn.

Today's storms were a pesky fly in comparison - an annoyance of storms. No comparison to last year's weather conditions and they are relagated to history as being a nasty weather god joke on last year's flood victims. Sorry - it didn't work - wasn't good enough to cause a bit of flooding worry.

Maybe we're getting tougher after having had a year at this post-flood recovery of home and spirit.

Some days this house is just plain odd. Lately if we walk on a certain part of the bedroom floor we hear noises coming from below - metal pounding sort of noises. I don't know what is causing that but I'm wagering it's a loose cold air return duct or something similiar. Why it would be loose all the sudden - who knows.

Tonight - as I was writing this evening's blog - we heard a loud - new - noise. A rap-tap-tap metal sounding kind of noise. I summoned up that braveness I show to my daughter and ventured outside to look around and puzzle out this new noise coming from our home. It sounded like it was coming from the garages so that's where I headed. It sort of was the sound of a door being pushed upwards - but not quite.

I stood down by the garages - that scene of last years flooding and destruction of too many of our family mementos - and waited for the sound.

It came soon - that rap-tap-tap oddity of noise disturbing our evening. I waited - every little bit it came again and again. It seems to have been coming from the chimney cover that's installed over the center chimney of this house.

There wasn't a bit of wind, rain or anything else to explain that metal covering to suddenly be making that annoying noise this evening.

I decided finally - maybe the ghost wants out - that makes as much sense as anything else. The ghost is trapped in the chimney and wants out and the cover is preventing it's exiting stage left.

Maybe the ghost had been trapped under that undermined garage floor - which for sake of this imaginary story - is located below the base of that chimney where the tapping was going on this evening. Could it be that once the floor was ripped out bit by bit the last two days - that we've freed a spirit - yet it's now trapped in the chimney?

Nah - that doesn't make much sense either. It sure wouldn't explain the levitating boards up in the attic near that same darn chimney last winter would it? Heck - maybe this house is full of spirits. Maybe that cold air return ductwork isn't loose at all - maybe there's a spirit trapped in that too.

All this rambling makes about as much sense as commemorating or celebrating the one-year anniversay of a flooding event.

As for our family - we would rather look ahead and not behind. We have learned a lot - we have grown - we have broken our backs and our hearts have ached - but we've done our best to move forward from what happened a year ago and we don't want to look back too long - and surely don't want to commemorate a flood - no thank you.

I do not want that darn flood to have one shred of commemoration or any sense of having been so important because of it's destructive abilities that it needs some sort of recognition - not at all.

We are being low key - thumbing our noses at that lousy Invisible Flood of 06 and all the BS that accompanied it as it washed it's nasty way into our lives and homes.

It didn't get us - and it hasn't gotten us down either - not for long anyway. We are still a family - with or without the mementos and treasures the flood took from us. We care about each other - we support each other - and we move forward one step at a time just as anyone does anyway - with or without a disaster in our lives.

Tonight I will lay my head down on my pillow the same as I did last year on June 27th - and I guarantee I will fall asleep just as quickly as I do every single night. The difference tonight will be that I won't be woken up at 1:00 in the morning and racing to the Family Room to save poor old Spotty. Spotty's gone now and there's not a flood in sight this evening.

All is relatively well in the land of the Invisible Flood of 06 - on the one-year anniversary of a disaster we could have all done better without.

Today's thought: We are what we think and perceive. Think positive - it's better from every perspective.

'Til morning, Pam

Day 364 Post-Invisible Flood of 06

As you may or may not know - The Press & Sun Bulletin is offering up a week-long look at the recovery effort related to the Invisible Flood of 06 - or as they term it 'Flood of 2006.' They started in with this 'look' on Sunday and each day they have more and more articles related to the flood we experienced last June.

If you haven't been aware - let me mention there are photos to view, a few small videos as well. A quick look around their website will find all sorts of flood related items for your reading and viewing pleasure.

As for myself - I haven't really been paying much attention to anything they are carrying right now about the flood. I'm saving my pile of newspapers until I feel like looking at them. Now and then though - if a headline catches my eye - I might read it - or I might not. There's a one-year anniversary of the flood event thing going on inside myself - I'm allowing that mood to decide for me what I want to do about things this week.

The town by town review of recovery was one I took a peek at - I wanted to see if they'd included Afton this time around. Nope - according to the Press & Sun Bulletin's report - obviously the town of Afton did not flood - since we never seem to make the cut to be included in their recaps.

Funny thing is - the very next day - they carried a story about an Afton flood victim.

How can that be - if Afton doesn't show up in those other 'town by town' recovery recaps? Oh I just feel so confused. Which is it - did we flood here in Afton - or didn't we? I know for fact our home had 6 1/2 feet of floodwater in it - that has to mean it flooded right? And we live in Afton - so in turn that should really mean Afton did flood. Not according to the articles in the Press I guess - they keep leaving any recap of Afton's flood recovery efforts out. Or maybe it means Afton hasn't made any recovery efforts - could that be it?

It's better - in terms of hoping to some day resell our home - that we don't show up as having flooded - right? So it's OK Press & Sun Bulletin - you can forget us all you want! I give you my permission to forget about Afton having flooded all you want - even though you never asked for my permission - I'm giving it anyway.

As for our family - we don't need to read a review or a recap of the Invisible Flood of 06 - we're still experiencing it firsthand. I just have to walk downstairs to see it's impact on our lives.

When we started painting the other day - we experienced firsthand one of those "Where is it?" moments in this post-flood life we live.

Where are the paint brushes? Did they flood or are they somewhere upstairs? What about the pole to extend the paint roller? Where the heck is that? Darn flood - we no longer know what we still own and what we don't.

Luckily - I found one measly 2" brush I could use. Yes - I do have to wash it a bit often when I'm changing paint colors - but why go buy any more brushes - they might go floating away some day too. I'll stick with one brush - it simplifies post-flood life.

There have been a few blog-worthy articles I want to mention. First - you may recall my writing about Water Power - The Flood of '06 written by Rebecca VanDerHeide. Folks are starting to hear more about Rebecca's book about our flood and I'm glad for that fact.

The Press & Sun Bulletin carried an article written by Elizabeth Cohen on Sunday, about Water Power - The Flood of '06. The article is titled "Book examines flood effect in rural communities." If that link doesn't take you to the article - scroll around on the Press's website for the Close to Home section or do a search using the title above.

The Tri-Town News carried an article about Rebecca's book last week. Their article mentioned that there is an event coming up related to Water Power - The Flood of '06. First, on June 28th Rebecca will be at the William B. Ogden Library in Walton for their Open House from 5 - 8 in the evening. Rebecca will be reading from her book and will be signing copies for folks who desire their book to be signed by the author.

Rebecca recently held a book signing event in the lobby of the Sidney Federal Credit Union in Bainbridge - last weekend on Saturday June 21st. I enjoy hearing of the good reception Rebecca's book is currently receiving. Bravo Rebecca!

Also in The Tri-Town News last week was an article titled "Copies of Flood DVD Are Available To Public." This DVD apparently gives an overall view of the June flood and the devastating impact on the area. It was created by Kerri Insinga and Gary Schoonover and they are making it available to the public for a $10 fee. A portion of the proceeds will go to a local group/organization. The article told that you are able to order the DVD by emailing Kerri Insinga at kerri@fromped.com or calling her at 563-3588 (area code 607). They are only taking orders until June 29th - so if you are interested in ordering a copy - you'd better move fast! The DVD's will be distributed in early July.

I haven't seen this particular DVD - I'm hoping it may be something along the line of the one we watced at MeadWestvaco's Earth Day event. I've already emailed Kerri myself - sight unseen I still want a copy for our Invisible Flood of 06 archives.

The jack hammer is going already this morning - so I know the mason is once again hard at work bright and early.

And so it continues - here at our flood damaged home - 364 days post-flood.

'Til next post, Pam

The Revelation of the Flood Underminded Garage Floor

The mason of choice started in again bright and early yesterday morning. Before 9 I could hear and feel the jack hammer in action.

I waited an hour or so before I hobbled down to see how the morning's work was progressing. I figured that'd give him time to have broken out enough of the garage floor to take a blog-worthy photo. I wasn't sure either - how well I'd do hobbling down there with this bum knee I have currently - so I took my good sweet time getting around to that visit down below.

When the dust cleared and he rested the jack hammer against the stone wall in that garage - he told me work was going amazingly well.

The mason said he'd decided already to revise his work plan for the day. He'd intended to do a little jack hammering and hauling of the concrete remains - and then switch modes and go onto an easier job for the remainder of the day. "I don't like to start out on Monday breaking my back on a hard job - if I do that - I'm not much good for the rest of the week." He's a thoughtful and well-planned out sort of mason, I like that about this guy. He thinks ahead.

The merits of an electrical jack hammer was the next topic of conversation. He'd never used the electrical variety before and he found that it was perfect for this particular garage floor destruction job. It's lightweight - something he was very happy about - and he didn't have to worry about all the air lines that are attached to the typical air compressor type jack hammer. It was also the reason he revised his plans for the day's work - that electrical jack hammer was making the job easy for him - and easy on him.

He decided he'd just keep going and see how much of the floor he could remove in one day. He spent the day breaking up the concrete floor - loading up his truck - and driving it off for disposal. He'd found someone looking for concrete pieces to use as fill - must be they are building up an area of land just like I'd been doing in the back patio area the other week.

He figured it was a 15 - 20 minute trip to drop off the concrete pieces and then the same amount of time driving back for more. The mason said that would give him a resting up time in between using the jack hammer.

I asked him if he'd found the sinkhole under the garage floor yet - by that point he was a good 1/3 of the way into removing it and I wasn't noticing that sinkhole anywhere.

When he stopped laughing he pointed to the 'sinkhole' - if you look closely at this photo it's there to the left side. It's those couple of inches showing right near the wall.

As you can easily see in the photo - the ground is pretty much right up tight underneath that concrete floor - except for those couple of inches on the left side.

I took a closer view of the 'sinkhole' I'd spent 364 days worrying about. That same 'sinkhole' that two structural engineers told me was existing under our home. The same undermining that they told me was under that 'completely hollow' garage floor. That same 'sinkhole' the one warned me about not letting my daughter jump in the house upstairs.

Are you as amazed as I am at this breaking news of structural engineering misdiagnosis?

What I and even the mason are - is relieved. I'm glad they were wrong. I'm glad there wasn't some gigantic sinkhole waiting to suck a mason out of sight with just the wrong move of a jack hammer. I'm glad the old timers who poured that concrete did a good job. I'm glad to know I haven't been risking our lives each time we'd walked across that floor for the past 364 days in this post-flood live we live.

It was undermined - just not as badly - or even remotely - as both those structural engineers told me it was. The floodwater did put that air pocket there alongside the one wall.

The mason told me "It had to be the floodwater that did that because when they poured the floor it wouldn't have been there then." End of case - yep - it was the floodwater that burrowed under that one side.

Later on - about mid-afternoon - I hobbled down again with my daughter in tow. She wanted to see a jack hammer in action - especially the one that kept waking her all morning as she tried to sleep.

By that point in the day - he was more than halfway through removing that underminded floor. There still was not a single sign of a massive sinkhole suddenly showing itself. All we could see was dirt solidly underneath most of the floor.

The mason showed me the markings left on the wall - in the areas where the floor had been removed. He said the floor itself hadn't even moved a fraction - or a mark would have been obvious to him. It was still firmly attached in the same place it had always been attached.

The floor did heave in the middle during the floor - there's no doubt about that having happened. Maybe that hump in the center was the result of that little tiny bit of undermining along that one side. Maybe that bit of dirt was moved over to the right side as the floodwater came swirling or burrowing in under that floor - and when there wasn't room for that extra dirt - the floor went upwards in the center. It makes sense to me - though of course - I'm not a structrual engineer.

The mason removed all but one of the far back corners of floor before he quit for the day. He'd made 4 or more trips to drop off the concrete pieces and as he left - his truck was weighted down with the last load of the day to drop off at that place where someone needs fill.

A few people were a tad-bit upset when they learned those structural engineers were so far off and wrong in their diagnosis. They were upset we'd had to worry for 364 days over nothing worth worrying about. They were upset over my going to the expense of tearing out a floor that maybe didn't need to be torn out - all because of those structural engineers.

I told them it's OK. That floor had heaved anyway and the correct repair was to do exactly what we're doing now. The new floor will be stronger too, and if the floodwater got under the old one once - it would have done it next time it floods too. This must be viewed as yet another small step in our flood mitigation efforts.

In the process of replacing the floor - I am hopefully sealing out the next flood from continuing it's efforts at undermining. I'm fighting back - I'm telling the next Invisible Flood - "Take that! Stay out!"

Besides - you know me - I have a theory as to why those structural engineers were so wrong as they tapped their hammers all over that floor and thought it was so greatly hollow and undermined. I detected something - and so did the mason - something a bit different and unusual about that particular concrete floor.

Once I'm up to hobbling back down to the scene of our Invisible Flood of 06 flood recovery work - I plan to take a photo of that theory of mine. Stay tuned - it will be coming along here on the blog sooner or later.

Oh - by the way - as I walked down to the garage to show my daughter the jack hammer yesterday - I heard the loud 'snap' I'd been waiting to hear. That knee of mine made quite a noise and was quickly followed by a big measure of pain relief. I think that may have been the sound of something going back where it belongs. That knee is still hurting - it should be if it's been out of place for a few days - that only makes sense. The good news is that it's not hurting in the same something's 'out of place' kind of hurting way - now it's more of an overall soreness. Hopefully in another day or two I'll be good as I was before I kneeled down and all this happened. I guess time will tell - just like time told us about that 'underminded' garage floor.

Today's thought: Even experts can be wrong.

'Til next time, Pam

A Fly in the Painting Ointment

The day had finally arrived - we were women with a mission - a mission to rid our home of pepto-bismol pink walls and go with a color more of our choosing.

That's the lovely shade we've been waiting to rid ourselves of viewing - and the sooner the better. It's actually much darker in person - the flash lightened it up a bit in this photo.

Things started off well. Before we knew it we had one wall painted. My daughter was enjoying the pleasure of learning to use a paint roller and was doing a good job at her new summer trade.

This is a poor photo of the color we chose - I took it in the evening and it's really not as dark as it appears in the photo. In person - it's light and airy looking. I'll take another photo soon during the daytime and it will show up better.

We marveled at the change taking place in front of our eyes - the room was growing brighter and brighter as we started painting the second wall.

And that's when the troubles started.

I knelt down to help my daughter and that's when the painting came to a sudden halt. Just by kneeling for a second's worth of time.

Those blog reader's who've been following our post-flood saga may recall my mentioning a fall I took on the ice last February. Back then I went down hard on the knee and we thought I'd jammed my hip. The knee recovered quickly and I never gave it a lot more thought except now and then when it'd suddenly start hurting. On the otherhand - the darn hip has yet to stop hurting - that's been pretty consistant in the ache department since that February slip on the ice.

I guess the knee wasn't over that fall either. When I knelt down yesterday - I could no longer walk using that leg - the pain was a tad-bit more than I'd care to tell about. I'm not a cryer but it's been enough to bring tears to my eyes now and then.

This morning - after a pretty sleepless night - we took a ride to the urgent care center. Once the x-rays showed nothing was broken - which I would not have thought anything should be anyway - it was decided it must be a ligament causing the pain.

Out came a leg immobilizer brace and a pair of crutches, followed by the referral to the orthopedist next week, and instructions to go home, elevate that leg and rest - with ice now and then too.

All because I knelt down for a second? Oh please - this can't be really happening!

Unfortunately the pain in that knee is still a bit too darn real this evening. Maybe they are correct and it's a ligament - personally I think it's something out of place and it's pinching something it shouldn't be pinching. I think once the inflamation goes down - things will shift back into place and I'll be as good as new.

I gotta tell you - I'm ticked off - I'm really upset. I'm discouraged and depressed over this turn of events.

Last June the Invisible Flood of 06 spoiled our painting plans - destroyed them really. Who had time to paint when you were hauling out debris and more debris all compliments of the flood entering our home uninvited.

We were trying to sneak in that painting before another flood could decide it was time to come and play again. We've been patient - we've waited through a year of schooling - just to have the time finally to change the wall color. And we were making great progress too. Darn!

It apparently isn't meant to be - at least not now.

Currently - I'm wondering how hard it might be to climb a ladder wearing a leg immobilizing brace. I'm wondering if I can sit on the floor to paint trim - with the leg elevated of course. Not tonight - but maybe in a day or two - when I'm feeling better - like I'm expecting to happen - regardless of what I was told.

Of course that flies in the face of the advice to rest, elevate that leg - I know that. Oh - but to have those walls changed would be better medicine for my daughter and I than anything a doctor might offer.

Yesterday as we were painting - she was singing. Singing a song of happiness at finally seeing her color going up on those walls. That daughter of mine was the happiest I've seen her since the Invisible Flood came along last June. When she said "You could almost forget about the flood seeing this pretty wall color!" - you know this mom wanted to oblige and get that room painted quickly - just for her.

Flood relief in a can of lavendar paint!

All this time those paint cans have been sitting there waiting for summer to arrive - I should have canceled school for a week and painted months ago. If I'd known - what I didn't know then - I would have done just that.

You can be certain - I'll be figuring out a way to continue with that painting - somehow - someway. I'd climb a ladder in a leg immobilizing brace - just to hear my daughter singing her song of flood relief and release.

Today's thought: If there's something you've been putting off - maybe you should just do it now - the result may surprise you and be a bigger and better result than you had ever imagined.

'Til next post, Pam

A Sad Farewell to Fred - The Flood Survivor Goldfish

Sadness has descended upon our household bright and early this morning. Good old Fred - the Invisible Flood of 06 flood suviving goldfish has passed away.

That's Fred to the right in this photo, his companion Flo is on the left side.

My daughter and I have been concerned lately - something just hasn't appeared right with the water in their fishbowl. It wouldn't stay clear and clean as it normally had - it was cloudy too often.

We'd planned to clean their fishbowl again this morning and we'd decided we'd leave Sheldon out this time. Sheldon is a plastic turtle my daughter had decided long ago would make a great decoration for Fred and Flo's home.

Lately the coloring on Sheldon has been getting a bit discolored and I wondered if maybe Sheldon might be leaching some nasty particles or something into their water. We figured leaving Sheldon out might be worth a try to see if it improved their living conditions.

Sadly - we were too late - Fred passed away during the night or early this morning.

The first concern - once the tears started drying - was "What about Flo! What will Flo do now without Fred? She'll be lonely!"

I reassured my daughter that Flo will be just fine on her own - maybe even happier - having the fishbowl all to herself. I promised if Flo started looking depressed - we'll go get her a new companion.

Perhaps Fred has been ill - and that might explain the sudden change to the water. We'll see what happens once the fishbowl is cleaned this time. The reason for the cloudiness may have left with Fred today.

Knowing that later today I will be hearing the question "Did you blog about Fred dying yet?" - I thought I'd share this news now and be able to report a positive "Yep - want to read it?"

Fred was a good goldfish - he and Flo have been our classroom mascots for over 3 years.

Fred had a penchant for getting hematomas - red bruises - on his forehead. He worried us lots of times - each time one showed up on that head of his. Somehow those bruises always cleared up and Fred was OK again.

We worried most of all - when Fred and Flo were left behind as we evacuated last June during the Invisible Flood of 06. Those were long days - waiting to know if they survived the flood. Since that time - I've promised if there's a 'next flood' - the fish evacuate with us.

Fred survived the flood and lived almost until the one-year anniversary date. He survived the flood and we were blessed with an additional 361 days with Fred's presence in our lives.

He may have been 'just a goldfish' to some folks - he was much more than that for us. He was a flood survivor. If Fred could survive the flood - we too would survive the damage and destruction the flood left behind. His survival was part of the hope we were left with following the flood - a bright spot in the darkness of post-flood recovery. If Fred could survive - so could we - it's that simple.

Instead of attending the kids workshop at our favorite home improvement store today - we'll be having a funeral service and burying Fred.

My daughter's decided she doesn't want to do anything else - except get to painting the bedroom once the funeral is completed. She's going to be painting and she's looking forward to that new experience.

Fred's legacy of instilling hope is still with us - and we thank Fred for that wonderful gift.

Today's thought: Blessings come in all sizes and forms - our lives are full of them when we take the time to notice.

'Til next time, Pam

Day Two of Post-Flood Masonry Repairs

Day two of our post-Invisible Flood of 06 structural repair work started early - the mason showed up at the door before 9 this morning.

I'd been planning to get downstairs and open up the garage door for him - I was the one who was late today. He'd already been here long enough to move a host of items out of his way before he headed up to the house to let me know work was starting.

Today the large stone returned to it's place in the lower part of the corner of our home's foundation.

The smallish stones you might notice showing up in the photo are there intentionally - they are helping to keep the stone in the postion it's meant to dry in. I'm sure he'll be knocking them off once Monday rolls around.

It looks good as new - from any angle I take a look. Daylight is no
longer able to shine through a big crack. He has it cemented in place right where it belongs.

If you didn't know that large stone had once been one piece - you'd never know the difference.

I like knowing the next flood can't wash that stone completely out - it's nice and secure once again. That fact makes me very happy.

The mason didn't start right in on that stone this morning - instead he'd brought along his pressure-washer.

He started by pressure-washing all of the stone foundation below our flood victimized home. His goal was to remove the last traces of the flood mud.

Surprisingly - he did a great job. It looks much better this evening. I waited for it to dry before taking a photo - my experience has been that once things dry the flood mud reappears. I don't see it this evening - he did a really good job of cleaning it off.

The idea was - he wanted to see if the stone retaining wall that the flood moved would really need repointing - once it was cleaned well.

We conferred once he had finished the cleaning and we agree it does need a touch-up in mortar here and there - but clearly a complete overhaul is not required.

He will try to add concrete to the large gap that showed up between the retaining wall and the house where it had once been attached. We both also noted that the flood had tilted the wall slightly - it's leaning just a tad-bit from the top towards the driveway.

Short of tearing the entire wall apart and rebuilding it from scratch - there isn't much to be done as far as correcting that tiny tilt. Both of the structural engineers who inspected that wall after the flood recommended just doing what we could do to seal the gap and not go tearing it apart. They both felt the wall would never be the same again and the tilt was minor at this time.

Once the pressure-washing was done and the big stone back in place - he started preparing for next week's garage floor removal.

There's a doorway between that garage and the next two. The flood did a lot of damage in that particular doorway - it left it fairly unsafe to walk through it to tell the truth. The first time the mason saw it he informed me that was the most dangerous thing he'd ever encountered in his years as a mason.

Great - you know I wasn't excited to hear that and know - in his professional opinion - my own feeling was correct. Since the flood I've been telling my daughter "Tread lightly - and quickly - through that doorway! Hurry softly." Even so - I wasn't happy learning my instincts were right on that score.

Knowing he'd be using a jack-hammer next week - the mason figured he'd better shore things up there in that doorway - before it all came tumbling down from the vibrations sure to happen once the jack-hammer is started up.

Then he brought out his stone saw. Have you ever watched a stone saw in action? They make one large dusty mess - and they're loud too. I know I'll be keeping the windows shut next week even if it's 90 degrees outside.

That's when he broke the news that we had more work to do to prepare for the floor coming out event. We'd removed the wallboard we'd put up in the garage entryway to the Family Room - that wasn't enough. He needed the studs taken out as well.

Oh - let me tell you - I didn't want to have to do that. I didn't want to think about their needing to be put back in place properly once the floor was done. Something is sure to go wrong then - they won't be returned to a square position or something - anything is bound to happen and mess that up and mean more expense of some sort.

He said it had to go - and it went late this afternoon. I made a quick call to our family friend and he was none too excited at the prospect of stopping by to tackle that task. He was vocal about it - wished it wasn't so - but being that great friend he is - he showed up and set to work taking out pretty darned difficult to remove studding.

It wasn't a pretty scene - it wasn't a happy time - but I can tell you - things are ready for the mason now.

Those studs were none too cooperative to say the least - the folks who built things downstairs did not know how to build well- or correctly - they used more nails than anyone should be allowed to use. It should be illegal - a misdemeanor at the least. A nail infraction - anything to stop the excess usage of nails in any one board.

By way of example - try to imagine just a moment a 2 x 4 with 3 - count them - 3 large nails attaching the 4 inch (which we all know is not 4 inches in reality - but more like 3 3/4 inch in today's world) side of the board to the next board. And they weren't smallish number 4 size nails - oh no - those nails surely had to be number 6's or 8's. Big nails and too many in one too small of an area. It's a wonder they didn't split the 2 x 4's when they pounded so many nails into those boards.

They'd probably had their share of flooding here at this home - and like myself - they wanted things to stay in place when the next flood washed in. They went for overkill in the nail department - hoping that might do the trick.

Before the mason quit for the weekend - he started tearing into the undermined garage floor. I'm not sure but I think he's as curious as I am to find out what we will find.

He started at the outside edge and this next photo - blurry as it may be - is what we saw.

The photo is blurry because something's happened to the new garage door - it wouldn't stay up so I could take a photo. I took this one trying to hold the camera with one hand and the door with the other. I can verify - this is not a recommended method for taking clear photography.

I'm not sure what's going on with the door. When I went downstairs afterwards - it opened completely for me from the inside. I'll be calling the garage door guy once the floor is done - I already know that.

The thing is - that floor - so far - doesn't look too undermined. It is - a little - from what we see with just a small section removed.

Both the mason and I hope that's all we find - a small air pocket underneath. That would be much better than finding some sort of endless sinkhole - I can tell you that for certain.

Even so - with today's findings - we both think it's too early to know. The floor heaved in the center during the flood - and he tells me some of the stones he found underneath are 'river rock' - he was surprised to find them under that floor. He says that confirms that the river did go under the foundation - he found the 'rocks in the pudding' so to speak.

While all this work was happening today - my daughter and I enjoyed a bit of work ourselves. First we planted her flower seeds. The end of June is a bit late to be planting anything but I have a plan in mind. Once those seeds sprout - we'll be spraying them with Miracle Gro each day. I did that once years ago and managed to have a beautiful - planted at the end of June or early July - flower garden. Miracle Gro does what it says - and I think my daughter has a chance of seeing some flowers in a couple of months - based on past experience.

Once the seeds were in the ground - we headed for the bedroom with the pepto-bismol colored walls. We set to work cleaning and moving and we are now prepared to start painting a wall and a half as soon as we have our next free day. We're planning to paint in sections - once one area is done we'll put those things back and move more for the next area.

Let me tell you - I feel hopeful these last two days. Not only is the structural damage started to be repaired - but those long ago - pre-Invisible Flood of 06 plans for our new home are starting to come around to fruition. If we are lucky - those ugly colors may soon be history!

Life is good this evening - other than I'm sorry our family friend had to do all that really hard work for us today - beyond that - things are looking more and more on a brightside for a change.
The downside - I'm really sorry to say - is that 22 year old son of mine had a tick encounter with a bit worse of a tick yesterday. He found two ticks on him after work - numbers 6 and 7 in the tick line-up - and one was the dreaded Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever nasty variety of tick.

He was at the doctor again this morning. They did the test for Lyme Disease - it was time for that to be done now that it's been a month since those ticks first stopped by for a meal. He found out it's the same antibiotic for these new arrivals and he has to stay on that longer now - and it's making him sicker than a dog as it is. He's now on a 'stomach medicine' because of the side effects of the antibiotic - and there's not a lot of relief in sight to this saga of his.

The next thing to be scheduled is the appointment for the test for Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever 2 - 3 weeks from now.

He went in to work today - at his mama's urging - filled out the incident report for having gotten more ticks again from this great summer job of his at Heckscher State Park. Once that was done he let them know he was done working for them as well. He explained that he would have given the two week notice but he really doesn't want to spend another two weeks having even more ticks attach themselves to his body. Enough is enough.

I'd recommend anyone visiting that particular park this summer to take a close look at themselves and their children once they depart - they may have attracted a bit more 'fun' there than they expected.

Today's thought: What is good health worth to you?

'Til next post, Pam

354 Days Post-Flood - the REAL Flood Recovery Finally Begins!

The first two photos today will look familiar to folks who've been keeping tabs on this Invisible Flood of 06 blog. They appeared once before - to show the cracked corner block of our foundation.

I thought I'd add them as a memory refresher today - before I show you our first real day of flood recovery work.

While it's true we've been working along on repairs ourselves - in my mind the real work started today - the structural repair work.

The flood cracked this large stone clear through - you can see the grass in the back lawn through it in this photo. I know - I've already mentioned that before too.

On the first day of masonry repairs - the mason showed up hours late. It's OK - I knew that in advance. He left a message last evening advising me that the rain on Tuesday caused a slight delay. He said instead of 9 in the morning - he'd be here more like noon or 1 in the afternoon. I was alright with that - I appreciate a mason who calls and tells me in advance he'll be a bit late.

He set right to work - taking apart the lower corner of our foundation.

My daughter was nervous when she saw what he was doing - she decided that weeding her garden was a great idea - she was willing to do anything - other than being in the house. She was afraid it was would soon fall down without that large stone in it's place.

I'll admit - I was a bit uneasy too. I guess I had a vision in my
head that he'd just be pulling that block forward enough to throw some concrete in and then smush it all back together. I thought that even though he'd already told me how he intended to repair it. Somehow that didn't really register that day I guess.

I trust this mason - I do - so off we went to weed a pumpkin and flower garden combo. We weren't weeding very long when I realized I should grab the camera and take a few 'in process of being repaired' photos for the blog.

The mason probably thought I had a few screws loose and he wasn't about to pause and wait while I took a photo or two - nope - he jumped right into the photo and kept right on working.

That's what I'm paying him for anyway - so there again - I think I picked the right mason.

That's about the same time I noticed the really long stone there on the back wall - the one jutting out over that 'then' empty space below.

I thank the original builders of this carriage house. I'm sure they never knew that the big stone below that really long one would ever break in two during a flood - but I am grateful they used that particular long stone right where they did.

When the big stone came out - not a thing moved or shifted - that big long stone did it's job and did it well. It bore the weight of all the other stones above it and our house stayed put.

My daugher's bed is right above that corner - you can be sure I'll be telling her "NO jumping" tonight!

After weeding a while longer - I stopped back around the corner to see how the repair was progressing.

The mason had already started the rebuilding of the corner - from the bottom up. He took everything out right down to below the ground level.

He had to pull up a broken-by-the-flood bit of the garage apron to get down below ground - you can see the missing piece in this photo. He'd concreted all the pieces back together - just as they'd originally been layed long ago.

That long piece is still holding everything up and it will until tomorrow morning.

The mason said he wanted to give the lower pieces a chance to have the concrete set before he put the weight of the really big stone back in place.

I agree with him. Let those bits dry and harden. I want every bit of repair nice and solid before the next flood comes along.

You can really see the back yard tonight - with that big stone missing in action.

I just hope he measured and didn't put too much concrete down below - I'd hate to think that big stone might not fit into place tomorrow morning. He's on the ball though - I'm sure he measured and knows what he's doing. So far it looks good as new.

Once he'd gotten as far as he'd planned with this bit of work - he went to work breaking out the garage apron in front of the undermined garage floor. He said he figured he might as well start hauling that part of the concrete away today.

We were both impressed at the thickness of the apron - a good six inches at least. Luckily the flood had busted that one up really well so it wasn't too hard to continue breaking them to remove them completely.

There was one stubborn section - he left that for tomorrow. He mused about removing all the aprons right away or wait until it was closer to the concrete pouring. I - stupidly - told him - "Oh it's OK - you can take them all out now - I can't use the garage for the car now anyway. I've moved everything inside to the center so you have room to work on the walls."

That was a mistake and fortunately for me it started storming and he had to quit for the day before he removed any of the other aprons.

I forgot - the lawnmower needs a way outside! I have to make sure I tell him that tomorrow morning before he removes the one by that garage. Once I do - I bet he leaves that one in place until the last minute.

Today was the very first truly peaceful feeling I've experienced in the 354 days since the Invisible Flood of 06 came to call on our home. The important parts are beginning to be repaired. Maybe we will really and truly get it accomplished before yet another flood comes along. It took 6 days short of one entire year to finally feel that moment of peace. I thank that mason for bringing it with him today.

I can only begin to imagine the peace I will feel once we discover how big the sinkhole under our home really is - and big or small - once it's repaired I know that will bring the biggest measure of peace and relief back into this person. Once the damage is repaired and sealed up as tight as possible - I will finally feel I can begin to breathe again.

I've been holding my breath for 354 days - hoping no other flood comes along before these big problems are fixed. May it continue to stay calm and flood free - just a little while longer - that is my post-flood prayer.

This afternoon the Press & Sun Bulletin had a blurb on their website - folks can write in and complete the following: "Flood of 06: If I were FEMA... I would have helped Flood of 06 victims by......."

Anyone interested can email their opinions in to viewpoints@pressconnects.com. Please note - you must include your hometown and phone number for confirmation.

What do you think - I've been toying with that thought all afternoon - should I or shouldn't I?

That's a loaded question to this blogger - could I ever fill in that blank!

Replies have to be in by June 26th - I don't know if that's enough time to say what I'd have to say - or to make my list of thoughts! I'm actually impressed the Press & Sun Bulletin was brave enough to take on a question like that - but then again - they will do the editing and maybe it will only be the nicey-nice responses they will accept and publish. I dunno.

I kind of like my obscurity here on the blog - my readers are great - and loyal. A lot have been effected in one way or another by the flood and they understand my rantings and ravings over what I think is nonsense and unfairness. Most 'regular' readers understand that what I write is often written while I'm having a good laugh - or a good belly laugh over such unbelievable BS. Anyone reading the blog who thinks I'm complaining or crabbing doesn't get it or know me.

Should I or shouldn't I - that is the question this evening. After waiting 354 days for our family's flood recovery work to truly begin - I think I'd be entitled to put my nose into that offering of the Press's. But do I want to - that is the question.

I'll make it a blog poll - you tell me. Email the blog and tell me what you think.

Today's thought: Today feels good - did you notice?

'Til next time, Pam

The Oddities of Post-Flood Life - Or of Life in General

Years ago my dad gave me a rose bush for Mother's Day. The first time it bloomed was many years later - the first spring after he'd passed away.

I figured he'd sent those roses to let me know he was still hanging around 'somewhere' even if he were no longer with us physically.

When we moved to this home - you gotta know - that rose came with us. It had never bloomed again - only that one spring and that was that. Until this spring following the Invisible Flood of 06.

I thought I'd show a photo of the roses - there's quite a few of them too. When we arrived here in late summer I didn't know where to plant the bush so I honestly just found a place and quick planted it in the soil.

The flood came and the rose bush was underwater - it was definately submerged. And now - this spring - in time for Mother's Day last month - it started blooming.

It's been an odd week - or past two days - here in our area. Maybe it's been a bit odd since the roses started blooming and I just haven't had time to notice.

Yesterday I went to the local grocery store - I wanted to get there and back before the predicted storm arrived on the scene. As I checked out - I discovered I'd been given the Senior Citizen discount - something I'm not - quite yet - and certainly didn't ask for either. I must have looked tired - or at least I'm sticking with that reason.

Today I went to the area KMart - my daughter and I wanted to buy a couple light and easily moved lawn chairs for the patio. I think light and quickly moveable in our post-flood world. I want chairs I can move by myself and which can be snatched fast and stored up high in a flash.

While we were there shopping I picked up a can of Krylon clear coat spray paint. I'd recently painted our birdbath with a new Krylon 'stone' paint - it's coming out really nice - it looks like stone or some sort of concrete type appearance. The can of Krylon stone paint recommends coating the finished surface with a coat of clear to help it last longer. No big deal - I put a can in the shopping cart.

It was when we arrived at the checkout counter that life took that odd turn again this week. First I get the Senior Citizen discount at the grocery store - but there at KMart - when the cashier got to that can of clear coat Krylon paint - she needed my drivers license to prove my age.

I looked at her like she was a bit odd. What? I need proof to buy a can of paint?

Wow! I hadn't been aware of such changes in laws! I wasn't proofed two weeks ago when I bought the Krylon stone paint in the same sort of spray can - heck - I've never been proofed for buying Krylon paint before in my life!

In today's world - at least here in the good old USA - things apparently change fast!

I looked at the woman customer behind me in line and asked her if she'd ever been proofed for age for buying paint. She shook her head and said no - she'd never had the joy of such an experience.

Have any of the blog's readers had this experience yet? I'm darn curious! Proofed for buying a lousy can of spray paint!

I was tempted - I gotta be honest - to tell that cashier I didn't want the paint - nor did I want any of the almost $200.00 worth of other things she'd already rung up. I was tempted to walk out and buy that paint tomorrow at my local hardware store and see if they too had to proof me for my age in order to buy a lousy can of spray clear coat paint.

The brain works at an amazing speed and I decided it wasn't the cashier's fault she needed that proof of age for a can of spray paint - she was just doing her job and I wasn't going to take my opposition to this silly policy out on her. I showed her that license and she went on ringing my purchases up for me.

With lightening speed I figured I'd just blog about it - tell the world about this next bit of nonsense we now live with.

That birdbath went through the Invisible Flood of 06. The base survived in one piece. Please note - concrete objects tend to stay put during a massive flood of historic proportions. Their weight apparently helps keep them anchored in place. All of the concrete bases I owe - three of them - stayed put during the flood - they didn't move one single inch even when they were under more than 10 feet of floodwater.

The top of the birdbath didn't fare as well during the flood - the floodwater - or whatever toxic solution that might have been in it - ate away the paint and the concrete itself. It was left damaged and unusable as a birdbath.

I'm never one to just toss something out - I try to figure out solutions to problems. I bought myself a small tub of ready-made concrete and went to work seeing if a repair to the top of the birdbath was possible.

I guess I did something wrong on my first concrete mission in restoration work - that little bit of concrete took more than a week to dry solid. Whenever someone would touch it and feel it still bubbling up underneath - I remained hopeful - afterall - concrete floors are made thicker than I coated that darn birdbath top - and they dry. They dry much quicker than birdbath tops - I now know that much.

Finally it did dry and I painted it with the stone paint and it looked pretty good - until the rain came yesterday. The rain washed off some of the stone looking paint even though it'd had hours prior to the rain to dry well. Maybe this event is the reason behind the 'spray with clear coat too' bit of advice on the can.

Our area had quite the rainstorm - accompanied by high wind and hail yesterday afternoon. Our side of the river didn't feel the full brunt of the storm - we were lucky. We had pea-sized hail and a lot of heavy rain but no wind to speak of at least.

The folks in Bainbridge had larger hail and stronger wind from what I was soon told by our family friend. He'd been on his way here to help with moving a few items in advance of the mason starting his work tomorrow. He saw trees down and branches all over. Hail about 3/4 of an inch in diameter too.

Roscoe, NY was hit hard - I read in the news on-line this afternoon that they had 6 - 8 inches of rain in just a couple of hours - serious flash flooding and they were still looking for 2 people as of that report. My thoughts are with the folks there - I know this has been a rough couple of days for them.

Our family friend told me this evening that he thinks they proof for spray paint to try to discourage graffiti.

My thought of course is - how and why would anyone try to graffiti with clear coat - seems to defeat the purpose - at least in my mind. Yep - I bet a woman my age is about to go graffiti a bridge or whatever with that new can of clear coat spray paint.

The nonsense of life grows deeper.

Today's thought: I recommend Philip Gulley's newest book - Porch Talk - he blames the changes in society on the lack of front porches - I have to agree with him. Pick up a copy - it will make your day.

'Til next time, Pam

A Showing of Support For the Inflatable Dam Protest

Our friend Don from Susquehanna River Sentinel is hoping and planning to gather together 200 boats and boaters this Saturday - June 23rd - along the west banks of the Susquehanna River in Wilkes Barre.

It's the next great phase of the Inflatable Dam protest - meant to coincide with RiverFest 2007.

The point that will be made on June 23rd - the Susquehanna River is just fine as it is - folks actually and truly are able to 'recreate' on the river without a darn Inflatable Dam.

I'm hoping our friend Don will be surprised with a lot more than 200 boats and boaters - I'm wishing 300 or 400 would turn out for this very good idea for a protest that Don's thought up.

If you'd like more information about RiverFest 2007 - Endless Mountain Outfitters has information on their website. It sounds like a fun day being planned for Nesbitt Park and I know Don's protest will be a great added bonus for the event.

This morning I visited Don's website - there's a link to the righthand side of the blog for Susquehanna River Sentinel - and found Don has a link that will take you to Channel 16's (WNEP) Pennsylvania Outdoor Life - where you are able to watch a few videos about the RiverFest 2007.

I took the time to watch the first 3 of the 4 videos this morning and found them interesting. My daughter will probably want to watch the segment on finding the wildlife living near the river - that was interesting too.

In our day to day life it's easy to forget that rivers aren't just a stream of water running past your hometown. Rivers serve very important purposes - they're more than just a resource for carrying water from one point to another.

Rivers are more than an Invisible Flood of 06 too. As much as I disliked having the Susquehanna River in my home destroying my belongings and damaging the house too - I still don't dislike the river itself. It's really not the river's fault we flooded - it was only doing what it had to do when it had way too much water to contain. Rivers are supposed to spill their banks when those occasions arise - it's really ourselves that have gotten in the river's way - not the other way around.

As I ponder about Don's on-going Inflatable Dam protest - which I support - now and then I do a little reading about different aspects related to dams and their impact.

The last two days I've been reading about a dam's impact on water quality upstream and the impact across the board on fish and wildlife.

I happened across a Dam Fact Sheet: Effects on Stream Quality, published by the Illinois Dept. of Natural Resources - on the website of Batavians For A Healthy River. This site was created by folks from Batavia and area citizens who are concerned about the Fox River in Illinois.

Reading through their lisings on the Dam Fact Sheet was very interesting and I recommend a visit - if for no other reason than to inform yourself on the negatives associated with dams and dam building.

It's always good to be informed - you never know when someone might think a dam in your area is a good idea - and then you'll have the knowledge to explain why that really may not be the good idea they're thinking it is.

After reading an older article from The Citizens Voice - dated November 21, 2004 - titled "American Shad ready to clear final hurdle" - I felt pretty sad for the fish trying to survive in the Susquehanna River - all because of dams.

I honestly did not know what dire conditions our river's fish have been living with all this time. I knew there were problems for them related to pollution, and I knew the salmon have had it bad - but learning about the impact of the dams - that turned on a bright light bulb in my mind.

As I was reading through the article and started learning more about the impact of the Sunbury Inflatable Dam on the fish - and how many years it apparently took - if it has even happened yet - to create a fish-passage system - it really sank in - what we've collectively done to those poor water creatures.

Even when fish-passage systems are in place too many of the fish never actually get where they're trying to get anyway - too many die off while they are trying.

Now they want to add yet another Inflatable Dam to the river? The article tells that the Sunbury Inflatable Dam is about 90 miles south of Scranton and the article tells that it's the longest one in the country. That's not enough? Now they want one installed even closer to the northern branch of the Susuquehanna River?

Pretty soon maybe there will no longer be fish in the river at this darn dam building rate. I can attest there still were a few fish - after the Invisible Flood of 06 neighbors did find fish in their in-ground pool - the pool had been flooded along with their home.

I'm not a 'fish-hugger' by any means. What I am is growing more aware of the damage we've been doing and of the lack of awareness we've been living with collectively. If I wasn't aware - I tend to think there are many more folks who haven't learned about this topic either.

Its not just fish being impacted, it's the frogs, the snakes, the lizards and salamanders, the birds, turtles and on and on the list continues. When we mess around with our rivers - we're messing with their lives too.

On one of the videos from Channel 16 - the ones I mentioned above - one of the persons being interviewed mentions feeling glad at witnessing a Mayfly hatch - to him it means the river is beginning to heal - starting to recover.

I could understand that person's joy at witnessing a Mayfly hatch - I saw my very first one last year. It looked like it was snowing - or raining - Mayflies. I was very impressed.

In another segment of the video - a wildlife person mentions - as he's holding a small lizard or some such creature - that it was rare to find that particular variety locally.

And yet - there are politicians to our south who think adding an Inflatable Dam is a good idea? In other areas of our country - dams are being removed. Yet they think adding one is the right idea? Maybe they think building in wetlands is on the mark too.

As I teach my daughter history - I've told her the idea behind learning history is to learn from the mistakes we've made and to grow better, smarter, and stronger - as people and as a civilization. She doesn't think we've learned too well yet - if we are still fighting and having wars - I agree with her.

We both think an Inflatable Dam is one really bad idea - one that needs to be put away for good.

We support our friend Don's efforts and protests and hope there are folks reading today's blog who will give more than a passing thought about venturing down to Wilkes Barre this Saturday to join him at RiverFest 2007.

Today's thought: The cumulative effect of staying uninformed will eventually come back to haunt you - in one form or another. Take a moment today to learn about something new.

'Til next post, Pam

Happy Father's Day - During a 'Record Breaking' Dry June

I read an article earlier today that mentioned our June rainfall is on the verge of setting a record for the dryest June - since they've been keeping those weather records.

The National Weather Service tells us that only 0.58 inches of rain have fallen locally between June 1st and June 15th. My sis told me early this afternoon she had a rainstorm today - so that figure will need a bit of adjusting in light of that breaking news.

The Susquehanna River is confirming it's a dry month of June - I noticed the other day that I am now able to see a lot of branches and odds and ends laying where I normally have seen water.

This is the lowest level I've witnessed of the river - right across the street - since moving to this home.

Last June this area had 11.45 inches of rain - according to the National Weather Service - and 7.42 inches happened during the lousy days of June 25th - June 29th - or in other words - during the Invisible Flood of 06.

I already knew it was a dry June before the Weather Service told us for certain. All the plants I've been trying to grow in the newly expanded 'circle to oval' in the front yard are struggling to secure their root systems.

Early in the morning hours those plants look up-right and perky and as soon as the sun starts shining they are laying flat on the ground. We've been watering the poor things - hoping for a miracle - but it's not looking hopeful currently.

Tonight my daughter and I gave them an extra good soaking with the hose - we'd become aware of that information about the dry June by then and figured we'd spend a bit longer trying to help those plants.

Another reason I knew it had to be a dry month - my daughter has been asking me all month if we're in a drought. I've been telling her "not yet" and she doubts I'm right on that score.

This morning I started right in first thing on our home schooling paperwork - we have our final quarterly report due this coming Friday - plus all the other big bits of paperwork requirements home schooling entails. In New York State we have to inform our school district by July 1st if we plan to home school for the year starting in September. We also are required to send in a listing of our curriculum - showing our plans meet the state's requirements.

It all adds up to a lot of paperwork and time - and odds are no one really reads through all of our papers anyway - they probably get stuffed in a file drawer somewhere at the school.

We took a mid-morning break to attend church and once back home - the paperwork blizzard began again. I'm happy to say I have that part of things done and ready to mail on the proper day.

I've decided however - I'm not going to mention to anyone or anything - our ending day of school. I'm keeping on saying we're still schooling. Last year - four days after school ended - we flooded. That ended all our plans for the summer.

I want a summer this year. I want to paint walls, find fun things to do with my daughter that we haven't gotten to do for two summers running - and if that means not saying we're done with schooling - it works for me.

This doesn't mean I'm worried another flood will show up before the end of June - I'm not that silly. If and when we experience a flood again - odds are it won't be at the end of June like last year. Somehow I believe the odds are against that event reoccuring for a long while.

But I know there have been big storms - ones that caused flooding in early July. I'm not taking any chances this year - I want a summer! So mums the word - for all intents and purposes I'll let the weather gods think we're still schooling - that way they can't go and spoil things for us.

Last June we had plans - I've written about all that - and we have plans again this summer. They aren't exciting plans - you can be sure of that. Our plans include fixing our flood damaged home finally - taking in the Afton Fair again - where we have heard that Bucky from American Idol fame will be making an appearance. We hope to finally paint the walls here - two years of living with burgandy and pepto-bismol walls are two years too many - at least they are for me.

I remember the sense of satisfaction I felt last June when all of our home schooling paperwork and lessons were completed. Then the Invisible Flood of 06 came along and wiped out just about everything.

This day - I am experiencing that same happy and hopeful sense of satisfaction once again. Going through a major flood did not take away my spirit even if it did take away our family treasures and momentos.

That's it in a nut-shell really. We can weather the storms - we can pick up the pieces, clean up the mess - and slowly and surely - one day at a time - move on and move slowly forward. It's what we have inside that makes or breaks us.

Today - on Father's Day - I give my 'pop' credit for giving me that hopeful spirit. My dad was an incredible person - a really terrific man. He lost his arm at the age of 44 - in a logging 'accident' and he never missed a beat. He figured out how to do everything he'd done when he'd been blessed with two arms. He perservered and beat all odds.

Personally - I think he was even more blessed once he'd lost his arm - he grew and became more than he might have been prior to the accident. He gave a wonderful and lasting legacy of spirit and hope - the ability to perservere - to not only his children but also to his grandchildren. His was a legacy without end - the story carries along with each new generation.

If you'd like to know a bit more about him - the Press & Sun Bulletin has a section today about what 'Dad always said." If you hunt around - you may find that particular article and can then look for my sis's contribution. Knowing my dad lost an arm should easily help you find her comments.

I'm thinking of my dad today - on Father's Day - that's another thing you can be very certain of knowing correctly. I miss him greatly - he's been gone about 14 years now and it still feels like yesterday when I last spoke with him. It probably was actually - I'm sure he's still right with me and lifting me up through the difficult times.

Today's thought: Did you honor your dad today? Even the poorest example of a father is still doing the best he knows how to do. Forgiveness and compassion are always good. Being fortunate enough to have a great dad is a blessing too. All of us have a father - honor your's today - while you still have the chance. If you don't have a dad - honor your mom today - she's playing both roles anyway - and you'll make her day.

'Til next time, Pam

A Comment About Anderson Windows and an Unveiling of the Post-Flood Patio

Before I begin blogging this evening about what we've been up to today - I need to vent a moment about something that has nothing to do with myself. It has to do with two great friends we've made since we moved to this "new" home of ours.

Our friends recently bought an Anderson Windows patio door - and the door has a defect. When they installed the door - that's when the defect came to light of day. They just bought this door at the beginning of May - this is a recent purchase and folks need to be allowed time to install an item.

When they contacted the home improvement store where they purchased the door - which happens to be Home Depot - they were advised to contact Anderson Windows - which of course they did. Anderson Windows sent out a contractor who would have liked them to pay $600.00 for them to replace some sort of defective beading around the window of the patio door.

Our friends naturally refused to pay someone to fix a brand new patio door and they want the company to take care of the defect in their brand new door like they should - for free. They have been going round and round on this problem and they are at their wits end - but trust me when I say - they will not give up.

Come on Anderson Windows - do the correct and right thing and take care of this problem! This is nonsense - this is a brand new patio door - these folks deserve your support in taking care of a defective product! You can trust too that I have given them my very best advise on how to take care of this little issue with both you - Anderson Windows and Home Depot. Both of you need to do the honorable thing and fix this problem and fast!

I had all Anderson Windows in our last home - and I am very disgusted to hear that our friends are being treated this way - over a brand new patio door! I had your windows for years - your windows Anderson Windows - and when a problem came up - you fixed it promptly and it never cost me a cent.

I do not understand why you are giving our friends a run-around and I hope it stops now. I have always spoken highly of your company but until you take care of this problem - that's the last I'll recommend your products. Do the right thing! Now!

I'll just add my view point to the blog for each day you let them sit with a defective brand new patio door - maybe we'll eventually get your attention if you have a shred of company decency left.

Now - on to today's saga.

I was going to start out this evening saying I bet a lot of readers must wonder about this post-Invisible Flood of 06 patio - like what the heck does it have to do with a flood.

It has a lot to do with a darned flood - at least in my book.

When we moved into this home 10 months prior to the flood last June - one of the first things I said I wanted to do was to build a patio outside the back door. There wasn't a place for our barbeque grill here at this home - that back corner is not friendly for mowing - there were so many strikes against that back area - I just darn it all - wanted a patio to show up there.

Then the flood came and ruined all those plans for last summer. Destroyed them to tell the truth - none of our plans for our new home ever happened - we never had time to do anything except try to survive - remove debris and clean, clean and clean some more.

So - when the opportunity presented itself a few weeks ago - I had no choice but to jump into action. I still wanted that patio to be there - longed for it actually. Best of all - it was going to be a real bargain - and I needed that to happen as well. Recovering from a flood is very costly and if someone was willing to make a real longed for dream happen at the most amazing of prices - I'd be nuts to say no to that deal.

This past week has been a blessing for me - arriving as it did amid this post-flood life I've been living for the past 50 1/2 weeks. For the past week I feel almost as if I've once again lived a normal life. Wow!

Yesterday morning I knew I needed to find a source for sand - a requirement in this patio building.

About 10 in the morning I called a company and within 3 hours I had more concrete sand than we could possibly need for a patio.

I think the person over-estimated the amount - about half of that pile in the photo is now sitting un-needed. It's un-needed at least until I come up with the next amazing idea of what to do with it.

I have already - of course - figured I could go to my local Agway and hopefully buy bags to create sandbags against the threat of the next flood. That may be what I end up doing with all this sand - it's a shame to waste good sand when you know more sandbags could soon be a real blessing - right?

Then - as I told you yesterday - the first load of bluestone arrived late in the day.

I thought I'd show a photo of that first load - it was followed by two more loads today.

The handyman thought - incorrectly - that two loads would create our patio - he soon learned he needed to run back for that last load.

At 6:30 this morning I was outside the backdoor - in the area of the soon to be patio area - laying down landscaping cloth. I say cloth because that's what I used.. I have a strong dislike of the plastic type material - it never degrades - at least I've never witnessed it ever - after 25 years - degrading. I'm pretty sure the cloth type has to be a bit more environmentally friendly - if for no other reason than you don't continuously see bits and pieces of that floating around every time you mow a lawn.


By 8:30 in the morning the handyman arrived with the second load of bluestone - soon followed by the arrival of his 'assistant.'

This next photo was taken around noon - they'd left to grab a bite to eat for lunch and at the same time the sky opened up with a very short-lived sprinkle.

By the time they came back from that 20 minute lunchtime - the stones were already almost dry again.

Soon we were back to work - with myself supervising on stone selection as often as was humanly possible.

I happened to notice as the day wore on - that the 'assistant' was actually the better worker. That fella never stopped - and he was darned good at his work too.

On the other hand - the handyman 'boss' sort of stood around a lot watching the assistant do all the work. I thought about that a lot today - wondering why sometimes in life the roles get reversed like that.

Plus - I personally didn't think I liked paying a handyman what he charges per hour for just standing around watching someone else do all the work. I envisioned how much quicker - and in less of those hours I was paying for - that job could have been completed if both parties were actively at work.

By 7 this evening - the patio was 90% completed.

I say 90% because I have a bit of fine tuning to do now that the handyman is done and off on his merry way.

I detect a low area dead-center in the patio. I plan to correct that soon. Plus - I plan to buy a bit of concrete dry mix - something I've read is recommended for putting between those stones.

Not entirely happy with the results - I am happy anyway. The patio is a success in my book - because it's still much better than no patio at all.

During the late afternoon neighbors stopped over to take a look at the progress. Everyone was complimentary about how great it was looking and how it was such an improvement of that back corner of this home.

I'm happy just to have a place for the barbeque grill - it doesn't take a lot to make this flood victim happy. That grill was about a week or two brand new when the flood arrived. It was in floodwater - it's a victim too. It survived which still amazes me. Once it had a good hosing off - it managed to start up first try. Luckily it was outside in one of the higher areas on this property when the flood washed in - and the water level didn't quite reach the electronics on the grill.

Amazingly it stayed put too - it and the propane tank that frequents these photos of the patio area. Neither object budged in the floodwater - but everything else that had been in that back corner did disappear - never to be seen again.

I thought the guys did a pretty good job with this oddly angled area of the patio. I'd just planted the hostas by the backdoor and I decided the patio would just have to be made around that bit of my gardening effort.

It may not be a 'Martha Stewart' patio - I'm sure if I had her financial resources I could be her equal in creativity - but for what I had to work with - I'm a happy patio owner this evening.

I went out there - to the new patio area - several times before dark tonight - just to sit and be thankful. One thing I'd hoped to do last year - a year ago - finally materialized today. The Invisible Flood may have delayed it's creation into a reality - but darn that flood - I didn't let it stop me and today it's there. Trust me - I will have a gladness in my heart each day when I step outside the backdoor and see it finally happened!

Today's thought: Patience is a virtue - and sometimes having had patience turns into a blessing as well.

'Til next time, Pam

A Picture Perfect Post-Flood Day

Today was one of those rare days we all have the pleasure of enjoying now and then - if we're paying attention. The weather was perfect - sunny with fluffy clouds now and then - temperature of a nice middle 70 degrees - no humidity - you get the idea.

Everything went well too - not a 'dark cloud' of any sort could spoil this picture perfect day.

That's why - around 5 this evening I decided to go outside for a walk with my camera. It felt like the thing to do and I'm glad I did it. It turned into a post-Invisible Flood of 06 treat of an outing.

I thought at first I'd show those 'summer homes' our dog Sid likes to make.

He was a great help to me in supplying rocks for our lawn raising yesterday - compliments of his digging abilities.

This is his 'morning' house - he likes this particular area because it captures the early morning rays of sun - before the world warms. It's nice soft soil here - fluffy and quite lovely. I understand why he likes this area - it was also his favorite vantage point in the past for watching me bring Spot outside in the mornings.

To the right of his morning home is his mid-afternoon home. This is actually a two-for-one home - or perhaps it's side by side in his mind.

Here you see the deep - into the earth home. To the lower right is his slightly later in the afternoon house.

It's amazing how this big guy can dig. I really don't mind - we always make sure we place his run in an area that isn't overly visable to anyone visiting and where his digging won't bother anyone or anything.

On over to the path to swampland I stopped to take a current photo of the grass growth.

It's funny the way each time I take a photo in this particular direction - heading towards swampland - there is always that 'fog' in the distance.

It makes it look like we either have one foggy bit of property there or one heck of a gigantic orb.

I'd mowed earlier in the day and thought I'd show how that is going over in swampland.

It's a pretty area - that one mowable section of an acre of land. It looks like it would make a lovely place to build a home - if you were clueless that this area floods first and is smack in the center of flood zone AE.


As I snapped the photo of the swampland - I caught a motion on the grass.

A wild rabbit had hopped on out just as I was on my outing.

It stopped, noticed I was present - and went back to enjoying it's evening treat of whatever was there in the grass of swampland that it happens to like eating.

I kept up a running conversation with the rabbit - telling it I was happy it liked living in the swamp - at least it's serving a purpose of some sort.

As I approached - that bunny didn't seem to mind one tiny bit. It let me walk closer and closer - snapping photos as I went.



Pretty soon I was within a yard of so of the rabbit. That was when I gave it the good advice to stay safely in swampland and stay far and clear of the road running in the front.

I also gave it a 'heads-up' on the fact that a ferral cat is sharing swampland with it. I know cats will catch a rabbit and I thought I should give a warning.

The cat haunting the swampland is a pretty raggety looking cat - scruffy and dirty. I wanted the bunny to steer wide and clear of that particular cat.

I took a second photo of a different view of swampland before I headed back towards our home.

The other day that 22 year old son of mine and I shared a wish that we could have the time and energy to transform swampland. We both thought it would be great if we could clear out the brush and find all the walkable parts - planting grass seeds as we went of course - make more paths and interesting areas to enjoy.

Swampland is actually a pretty parcel of land - if you could figure out where the swamp is and isn't. We don't really know yet - where we can safely and dryly venture - but we wish we could find out. I think we've mowed about all that is not wet and swampy - anything beyond the mowed area in the photos is too wet to walk - not to mention mow.

I took a photo of the 'heading home' view of our nice grassy path. Ferns seem to like to sprout in the center of the path and I hate mowing them down - I happen to like ferns.

We probably could sell those fiddlehead ferns early in the spring to those fancy chefs who think they are a treat right before they unfurl. There were tons of them as spring started warming the earth - right there in our very own swampland.

Last year - right before the Invisible Flood of 06 roared in - the peonies were in tip-top perfect bloom.

This year - after having been killed-off immediately - to the point of being black and dead as a doornail as the floodwater receeded last June - the blooms are scarce.

They are still lovely though - and even though there are many less to enjoy - the floodwater effect didn't change their beautiful scent one little bit.

We have pink, white and a very pale shade of pink peonies here at our home. My favorite is the pink ones I'm showing in this photo.

They have the nicest fragrance out of all - and their color stands out even when they are in the afternoon shade.




Our little lilac hasn't fared as well in it's flood recovery effort. If you zoom in on this photo - if you're lucky you may be able to pick out the few leaves it's managed to produce.

We're leaving it sit - we're hoping in a year of two it may actually recover. It's sending up a few shoots from the base - so who knows - stranger things have happened - right?


It truly was a nice post-flood day - I wish we could have a repeat for the entire summer. I know that's not likely to happen - but wishes don't cost a cent and that is mine this particular evening.

When we have days like today - I can feel the healing - the post-flood recovery taking place within myself. I hope all my fellow flood survivors have these same sort of moments now and then. We need them - it's been a long 50 weeks.

This day just doesn't want to disappoint me in any way, shape or form - the final bit of good news for this lovely day - the first load of bluestone for the patio just arrived!

'Til next time, Pam

Good News on the Flood Damaged House Assessment

Now that we are fast approaching the one-year mark post-Invisible Flood of 06 - the local newspapers are starting to mention that a few towns are planning 'events' to commemorate the flooding disaster.

I'm not sure which date our family should commemorate - June 27th or June 28th. The water started rushing at our home in the late night hours of the 27th - we just didn't know that at the time because of the darkness of night. By 1 in the morning on the 28th the Susquehanna River was already in our home. That's when I woke to the sounds of our possessions clanging together as they floated down below in the garages - accompanied by that fuel smell permeating the air in our bedroom.

Maybe our family should just go all out and commemorate both days. If we're going to acknowledge our disaster - what the heck - it was certainly a disaster and one worthy of a two day event in commemoration. We commemorate it each and every day anyway - it's kind of hard to forget the disaster happened when you've been living with it's after-effects for 50+ weeks and the post-flood recovery and repair to your home is still not a reality.

I read an article in the Press & Sun Bulletin that mentions they too are planning a 'comprehensive package' related to the one-year anniversary of the flood. The short blurb mentions they are hoping to hear from flood victims who received assistance from FEMA, the state grant, relief groups and so on.

If there are blog readers who'd like to offer their information and stories to the Press & Sun Bulletin - the title of the article was "Tell us your flood stories." If the link fails to take you to it - scroll around on the front page on their website - that's where I discovered it this morning.

Last Saturday's Press & Sun Bulletin (June 9th) had a very interesting Viewpoint article. The title was "More FEMA funds deserved." If you missed reading that particular Viewpoint - you might want to do a search on the Press's website while you're checking out the article mentioned above. This Viewpoint was written by Greg Jenkins - Mr. Jenkins was director of flood relief for the Conklin Presbyterian Church and is also a Conklin resident.

The Viewpoint article told how FEMA had a 'cap' on the amount of funds our flood victims could receive - and then goes on to inform us that the 'cap' was lifted by a change in law during October 2006. That change in law came a bit too late to help our own flood victims.

I appreciate Mr. Jenkins telling us about all this important information. Through his Viewpoint article he is also seeking responses and information from flood victims - he has a survey he'd like folks to fill out. He feels a retroactive consideration is due our flood victims - and I would have to agree with him. He'd even like to hear from folks who were not impacted by June's flood but who agree that something is just not fair about that 'cap' having been in place during our local flooding disaster.

There are a lot of things that are 'unfair' when it comes down to disaster relief and assistance. Last week when my daughter and I attended the Project Recovery meeting - as I listened to each of the speakers give their overviews of the help their agencies provided - I thought it was 'unfair' that we'd been asked to save our questions until they were done talking.

It was hard to sit and stay quiet when the Red Cross person told us - during his power-point presentation - how their mobile food units were out delivering meals to flood victims during the aftermath of our disaster. I looked across the room towards my flood victim neighbor and we both were shaking our heads - we knew that there hadn't been a single mobile food unit in our town following the flood last June. I really wanted to raise my hand right then - in the middle of that presentation - and correct that misinformation. I didn't - I remained silent.

We did finally get a chance to have our say - the few of us flood victims who actually showed up for the meeting. I think I went first - once the person from Opportunities for Chenango and chairperson for CART (Chenango Area Recovery Team) finished his presentation.

I asked if they had any flood victims as members of their committee. I think having a flood victim as a member on any committee dealing with how to help flood victims might make a lot of sense - and give them better insight into how a flood victim might best be helped. He wasn't sure but thinks maybe there might be a member who may have had flood damage.

Pretty soon - you know me - I was letting them know that I think Afton was forgotten after the flood - that we are maybe a 'fourth cousin' of Norwich and Chenango County - since we were never advised of most of what we were being told that evening.

Thankfully - I wasn't the only flood victim there that evening and thankfully the other flood victims stepped up and spoke out too. There were a few surprised looks on a few faces when they learned there was still unmet need and unanswered applications here in Afton.

We were told they'd look into that matter and told us we should make sure we apply - maybe they could help. Following the meeting when we approached the person who took down our names to check into why we hadn't received answers to our applications - we were then informed there are no more funds left to assist flood victims - the funding's all used up.

While we were all busy talking - that daughter of mine hatched a plan of her very own. She's been learning cursive and she set about with a sheet of paper and asked each person attending the meeting to sign their name in cursive. Our Pastor told me that my daughter explained as she went from person to person that she 'knew everyone signed their names in a different style and wanted to compare styles' so she could decide upon her very own style. That's not what she told me - that daughter of mine - when we returned home and she handed me that paper of collected signatures. What she told me - with a big smile - was "Here mom, I have a list of everyone who attended the meeting! Now you'll know who's who for when you write the blog about it!" I have to say it was useful - having a count on how many flood victims attended.

Since the meeting - I received my answer in the mail. I have too much income to receive any help - if they had help to offer - which they told us they don't have anyway. It's that lousy $200.00 a year too much income coming back again to haunt me, that darn old $17.00 too much income each month. It eliminates my receiving any help - if there was actually any help to be had.

What a neighbor and I don't understand is why income should really enter into the equation anyway - since the damage to our homes add up to much more than the sum total of several year's worth of income. What do we know - somehow it makes sense to the 'powers that be.'

I do think however - I may have received a bit of good news in yesterday's mail. I say I 'think' because to tell the truth the form is a bit confusing and doesn't tell me too much. What I received was from the state board of real property services - telling me - I think - that my home's assessment was lowered for the year 2006 due to the flood damage it sustained. From the way the little bit of information appears - it seems my assessment for 2006 may have actually been cut right in half. I'm also guessing that maybe - just maybe - the current assessment may have been lowered to the amount I'd suggested too.

It's possible that what this might mean for our family would be that we qualify for a refund on those house taxes we paid a high assessment rate on for a flood damaged home. How that will come about - I don't have a clue - but you can be sure I'll be looking into what that form I received means and what the result of it might turn into. I'll keep you posted on this ray of hope that showed up in the mailbox.

The other good news is that I tracked down the handyman and the patio stones should start arriving this evening. He was a little surprised when he started to tell me they'd start the digging on Saturday and I informed him it was already done and waiting for the stones. He didn't expect that at all - he said he wished he'd stopped by earlier so he could have checked our work out firsthand. I wished he'd stopped by earlier too - it would have saved me from wondering if he'd disappeared with the stone money.

Today I'll be contacting the mason who's services I've retained. He had said he would be starting our work sometime between the middle to end of June. Today marks the exact middle of June - I think a phone call is in order to see what the schedule is looking like currently.

Once the mason starts his part of our flood recovery work - that's when I will begin to have a bit of hope that the tide will turn and we will eventually recover from the flood damage we still are living with daily.

I'd really feel like commemorating the flood's one-year anniversary if that mason would start his work here even just one day prior to that historic date. That might even make me feel like celebrating.

Today's thought: How does a person commemorate a flood - or any disaster of any sort?

'Til next post, Pam

Post-Flood Patio Update

Today's photo is meant to show the progress in the post-flood patio project. My son, daughter and I were busy people the last couple of days - digging, leveling, and more digging.

One of the items on the agenda for today was the filling in of the low area - that darn dip in the lawn - past where the patio will soon appear.

Once all the border stones were set into place - we had a fairly good drop-off on the lawn side. It took a while for me to sit and ponder on how to raise that area of lawn up - and into the form of a mowable incline.

Pretty soon I was visiting our remaining dog Sid - he's a 'summer home' builder of sorts - he likes to carve out nice cool areas of dirt to spend his time in on hot spring and summer days. I was sure he'd have unearthed plenty of rocks I could use as a filler to raise that bit of lawn higher.

I was right - he'd done a good job of his home building and had 4 nice cooling-off areas all set for the summertime ahead. I found lots of good sized rocks and stones just as I suspected.

Another item I found stopped me in my tracks. I found a metal animal trap - one of those 'snap shut on an animal's leg' kind of traps. It was shut thankfully - not sitting there waiting to get our remaining dog. There was a long rusty chain attached to the rotten rusty trap.

Finding the trap made me think of our poor cat who had the injured leg which led to a 'too young of an age death.' I looked to see if there were any traces of gray fur hanging on to the teeth of that darn rusty old trap - I couldn't see any. All the same it confirmed a suspicion I'd had when she'd been so badly injured - that she might have been caught in a trap of some kind. I tend to think - after finding that trap today - my gut feeling may have been more correct than I want to think.

I shook the 'looking backwards' off and found lots of other useable fill type materials that had been left behind as eyesores by previous owners of this home. Broken chimney pipe, broken cinder blocks, bricks and stones, stones and more stones.

Apparently I am the first owner of this home who cares about it - environmentally that is. I have found too many piles of cast-off items littering the forest here. I'd like to say a lot came downstream during the Invisible Flood of 06 - but unfortunately that wouldn't be completely true. I'd already discovered a lot of 'junk' in the forest directly behind our home before last June's flood came along. Of course there is a possibility some of what I found floated there during previous floods.

Then - this spring - I actually eyewitnessed other folks dumping their 'shouldn't be dumped' materials on my wooded area of swampland. Must be they think I don't see them - but I have - and I wish I hadn't. It sort of colors how you feel about folks when you see them doing things like that to someone else's land - or any land for that matter.

I guess some folks think any area of wooded acreage is fair game to hide things they don't want to be bothered disposing of properly. It's bad enough that I'm trying to clean up the debris and garbage that the flood brought to that acre of swampland - along with what the previous owners let behind - but when I learn I'm also cleaning up the cast-offs of current 'dumpers' that are non-flood related - it tends to get me a bit upset.

We set to work gathering those lovely filler type - non hazardous - materials and pretty soon we had a decent base made for our new raised lawn area. Next came odds and ends of whatever sod and dirt I could round up - the rockier the better.

As we were doing all this creative landscaping - I decided maybe I could call it a bit of flood mitigation work. It actually may qualify - the next flood may have to get a bit higher before it can reach our backdoor or the barbecue grill next time. Of course only time will tell on that score - and hopefully I will live far away from this home when that time comes.

Late in the morning we took a run to a local store to buy top soil. I figured we'd need more than I had already purchased - five bags surely wasn't enough. The low area looked a lot lower once I'd finished installing those stones in a level position around the border of the soon-to-be-patio area. My vehicle isn't sure it likes all this hauling it's been doing lately - all in the name of 'patio' building.

600 pounds of top soil later - the photo above is our result. I wish I had a truckload of top soil to be honest - I think that would be even more fun and even better mitigation effort. I'll settle for what we have though - it came out a mowable incline - I tested it out by using the riding mower as an odd sort of lawn roller.

My sis was telling me today she responded to a newspaper query about 'lessons we've learned from our fathers.' I guess this building up of a lawn area would qualify as something I learned from my dad. Not really - what I did learn from him was to use my common sense and look at the problem in front of me - and puzzle it out - and the creative solution would soon follow.

The fly in all this ointment is the handiman who stopped by three days ago to pick up the money so he could pay for those nice pieces of bluestone for the patio. He told me he'd start gathering them and dropping them by after work this week.

I haven't seen him since I put the cash in his hands. I understood the next night when he failed to show up - we had a lot of thunder and a storm warning was posted. I figured he didn't want to get hit by lightening gathering bluestone for me. I can't explain last night - after he was off work - when the weather was delightful - nor this evening when it's yet again lovely weather.

I'm trying real hard to have faith - that there's a real good explanation for this lack of stone being delivered as promised. Maybe he didn't understand that I could actually have this area ready by the weekend for a patio installation. Maybe something's come up and he just couldn't do what he said he'd be doing.

The neighbors who recommended him said he's honest - I hope they are correct. I still have to arrange for the sand that's needed - maybe by then the stones will begin arriving in time for him to make that patio this weekend as promised.

Today's thought: Hope for the best - be prepared for the worst.

'Til next time, Pam

A Post-Flood Mowing Dilemma

Today's photo is of yesterday's handiwork - it's the beginnings of a backdoor patio.

The small stones showing up in the photo aren't set in place yet - we placed them as you see them in the photo as a guide as to where to dig and level the soil.

I was delighted when I discovered I would have the assistance of that 22 year old son of mine for an afternoon - he dug and I shook the soil off the sections of grass - putting the soil right back where it belongs - on the ground.

In reality this 'patio' will measure 12 x 20 feet - I think it looks smaller in the photo. If I have my way - it may end up a bit wider than that 12 feet, I'd like to swing that line out a bit wider.

There are nay-sayers involved in this project I've been developing. They tell me I can't go wider because of a dip in the lay of the land. They also are the same ones who told me the other day that I'd never get this area level - partly because of that dip. Looks pretty level to me - what do you think?

That son of mine didn't dispute the fact that he could make things level for his mom - he went along on that part of this idea I've hatched. His doubts follow the flow of the others who think I can't go any wider. I think I can - and odds are I'll be trying to do just that - if only to prove those doubters wrong.

I want to go just a tad-bit wider because I believe once the rear elevated porch is repaired and rebuilt from it's flood damage - the newly installed back porch stairs may end up coming right down onto the newly made patio - or in very close proximity. I happen to think that would be a great place for those stairs to start and stop.

Tick season is apparently hot and heavy this year - that son of mine found another one after work Monday. He's getting to be a pro at removing them. I'm getting tired of knowing his summer employment is putting his health at risk.

Once again we discussed the merits of his giving up that tick infested state park of a summer job and instead take on learning how to paint a house instead. That idea is really beginning to grow on him - I think the tide is turning in my favor.

Also on Monday I noticed a small article in the The Press & Sun Bulletin - an article telling us that the Town of Conklin is reminding flood victims to get those lawns of theirs mowed.

Apparently the town has sent out about 50 letters to let those folks know they need to mow and maintain their homes - even if they are now unliveable. The town understands that a lot of folks are waiting on the buy-out list - or hoping to be bought-out, while others are busy trying to repair their homes. A mention was made that still others haven't figured out what they should do about their damaged home - even now 50 weeks post-Invisible Flood of 06.

It's mentioned in the article that if folks don't comply with this reminder - it will force the town to start doing the mowing themselves and they'll have to send out bills for that service to the flood victims.

A lot of thoughts pop into my head reading that article. First on the list is "Do those flood victims even have a lawn mower?" I think it's pretty safe to say that if their homes were engulfed in deep, deep floodwater - to the degree that there were too many people being plucked off their rooftops by helicopters during our June flood - odds are the lawn mowers were under that floodwater too.

It's possible I suppose - I might be one of the exceptions to that mower topic - that was the one thing I had the foresight to remove from our garages the night before the flood washed in. It moved several times actually - between the evening prior and the following morning.

First it was parked behind the backdoor - in that area shown in today's photo above here. Next it moved to the front yard in front of the porch. I decided by early gloomy daylight the next morning - as I watched the floodwater approaching the backdoor - that the lay of the land might be a tiny bit higher in that spot out front. I was correct on that score since that was the one and only area of this property that was not covered by floodwater - the only area.

Pretty soon though - as the floodwater started coming across the street - looking like it was heading directly for the mower - it was soon driven down the street to a distant neighbor's garage. That kindly person informed me that 'It never foods here, don't worry."

He was right, his garage didn't flood and sure enough my mower remained high and dry. Unfortunately - his home didn't stay that way - from what I understand they ended up with a basement full of floodwater.

Are the flood victims in Conklin now expected to rush out and expend precious money needed to repair their homes - to buy lawn mowers?

What if some of those folks are now not only paying a mortgage on an unliveable home AND paying rent on a place to rest their heads - where does the money for a lawn mower suddenly materialize from in order to fulfill that reminder of the town's?

What if those folks repairing their homes are down to the last clink of change in that repair bucket? Do they now go purchase a mower when they may have been trying hard to save up to buy wallboard - or wiring or any other number of much needed materials?

The bit in the article about reminding those folks to 'maintain their homes' was a belly laugh moment for me - maintain the site of a major disaster? Maintain something not maintainable or they wouldn't have their names on that buy-out list?

Today's Press & Sun Bulletin carries an article telling us that someone is stealing the water meters from the flood victims homes in Conklin now. The suspicion is that they are being sold to a scrap metal dealer perhaps. The Town of Conklin is upset at that fact - that someone would be robbing flood victims homes.

I'm upset that those same flood victims are being told to go out now and buy replacement mowers - that's just another form of robbery to my way of thinking - robbing those folks of much needed funds to repair those same homes. The grass can grow - it can turn into a hayfield this year for all I'd care - the more important task is repairing the homes - if that's even possible. Making ends meet is more important too - more so than making the picture of the neighborhood lovely to on-lookers.

If someone's stealing the water meters - how safe and secure would their investment in new mowers be? Wouldn't they be just as vunerable to theft? Then they could go out maybe the next week and buy yet another mower?

Let's get real. The nice thing to do at this point post-flood would be to stop the nonsense. If the tall grass is bothering someone - why don't they do the nice thing and do those folks a favor and mow that lawn themselves?

If the grass is bothering the town so much - why don't they just go ahead and do that mowing and forget about sending out those bills?

If those homes are bought-out - let's think about that for just a moment - any home that is bought out is demolished and the land becomes a permanent 'green space' - never to be built upon again. Once that happens - does the town plan to rush on over all summer long - year after year - and keep mowing those sections of then vacant land?

I'm not suggesting anything I wouldn't do myself. The last two weeks I've been mowing my neighbor's yard. I don't mind one tiny bit - because I know their mower is not up and running - and isn't that what a neighbor does? Their mower went through the flood but was somehow restored to working condition. It seems to have met it's demise though - when it took an unexpected spin in the goldfish pond recently. Maybe pond water is worse than floodwater - or maybe it was just one drop of water too much.

My point today is - if you are bothered by your flood victim neighbor's lawn - maybe just ask if you can help out. That'd be a lot better than complaining and causing those folks more problems on top of what they are already dealing with in this great new post-flood life we are all so busily trying to perceive and live.

Today's thought: If something's bothering you - ask how you might help. Maybe the solution isn't within the other person's grasp - maybe it's within your own.

'Til next time, Pam

An Unusual Post-Flood Day for the Family Friend

I have a story about one really bad post-flood day. It wasn't my bad day - though I've had my share of them in this post-flood life we've been living - no - this one belongs to our family friend. It happened last week and I waited to blog it because I wanted to make sure I had all the details.

He stopped over this evening to fix that broken water pipe for us - it's now good as new. The hose works once again and while it's working the Family Room is no longer taking a shower at the same time.

Last week our family friend told us that he too had found a tick - it was no longer just that 22 year old son of mine finding them having a snack. What worried my daughter and I was that our friend didn't bother going to the doctor - he did the 'manly' thing and took care of that tick himself.

The site of the tick's fest looked pretty red to us when he had let us take a peek a day or so after his discovery. We both urged him to visit the local doctor or walk-in clinic - just to be safe. Of course - he didn't.

Until he woke up not feeling well one morning soon afterwards. Swollen glands and a general ill feeling. That did it - he woke up from that tick-slumber he'd been in and he figured he'd better high-tail it over to a doctor.

That was the beginning of his bad post-flood day.

It turned out that part of the tick was still inside his leg. He was offered a nice injection of a numbing agent which he refused. He thought that the injection would probably be worse than the actual 'removal' and he opted out. "Just do it" he told them - and they did. They found the remains he'd missed.

Soon followed the writing of the prescription for the favored lyme disease antibiotic - good old Doxycycline. He left and stopped at the pharmacy to get that taken care of and was pleased to find out that good old Doxycycline is still a reasonably affordable medication. That's why he'd not bothered with a doctor at the start of this tick ordeal - he figured that the medication would be too costly to afford. He was glad to learn he was wrong on that score.

Off he went - deciding to stop at a local gas station/convenience store and run in for a cup of coffee to go - on his way back home. That's when the day started going even further the wrong way for him.

As he walked out with his coffee in hand - what should he see? An older woman was rummaging through his vehicle. The door was wide open and a frantic search of some sort was going on - right in front of his very eyes.

Our family friend isn't a 'little person' - he's a pretty decent-sized fella. He walked up to his vehicle and said in his deep stern voice "What the heck are you doing?" "What are you doing in my vehicle?" He didn't really say 'heck' - I'm translating here on the blog - you know what he really said.

Right about that very moment an older man walked over and said "Don't get upset - that's my wife. She has Alzheimers - she does this a lot."

Our friend was naturally taken back - he still wasn't quite sure if he believed any of this.

As he told me this story - I immediately said "Or this is one really good scam!"

At which point he mentioned the fact that the 'couple' had Arkansas license plates on their car.

"Oh - that isn't good - I bet it is a scam!" "What a perfect scam!"

He didn't believe me until a few days later his brother asked him if he'd ever heard of the "Alzheimers Travelers." Then my point sunk in further. No offense intended to folks with Alzheimers - or to folks from Arkansas - these folks just unfortunatly had your state's plates on their car.

OK - he shook that off too and headed for home - that new post-flood apartment of his in the flood-recovered apartment building in a different town than where he'd spent his entire life until the Invisible Flood of 06 roared itself into all of our lives. Now he lives in a new town - and so does that elderly mom of his - she's even further away from the town she'd spent her entire life until last June.

As he walked in he grabbed the day's mail. That's when he found the tax bill for his flood ruined home. It wasn't a happy moment when he opened it and found his tax bill doubled - for that unliveable home he now has no pride in having the pleasure of owning but not living in. The pink slip is still stapled on the front door - 'Unsafe building."

Wow - even in such condition the town and village consider it a big money maker in terms of taxes. Even though he went to tax grievance day like we did - his assessment hadn't changed a fraction. Those folks had told him that day - grievance day - that his asssessment would be lowered considerably - it wasn't. It was still valued at it's pre-flood value.

The next item in the mail was the Dear John letter for a job he'd applied for recently. You see - his Project Recovery job is coming to a close as the mass exodus begins. That job was supposed to last until July - or so he was told at the outset - but I guess they overspent their funds on all those trainings they kept having continuously and it's coming to a close sooner than July.

He had heard that morning that his 'exit interview' would be this week we're currently enjoying. He's looking forward to that like a person looks forward to having dental surgery or some such other great fun.

I told him to watch out - they might suck his brain right out during that exit interview. They might need all that he learned to go directly back to FEMA-land. Can't have any of that knowledge roaming around where it might cause a stir if someone knew all the nonsense involved right?

While he's been working for them - I've behaved. I've chomped at the bit and told him I can't wait until his job is history. I will then be free to reveal the 'dark-side' of the story. Out of respect for our friend - I've behaved myself. Once he's a good old private citizen again - well isn't that a bit of a different colored horse?

At this point - his day had gotten a bit much. He's a good sport - he was still trying to let it all go. He didn't feel well to start with and the Doxycycline wasn't making that feeling any better - in fact he was feeling a lot worse.

So he decided he'd better just go lay down - thought he'd read awhile and maybe take a nap too. He did just that - read and dozed - read more and dozed a bit more.

Late in the day he woke up from the most recent slumber and heard something. He stayed still and listened. He heard the noise again. He was unbelieving at first but soon his brain recognized the sounds of someone outside his apartment door - jiggling and jangling the door knob.

He quietly went across the tiny apartment - still not believing what he was hearing. Maybe he thought he'd gone into a fog of some sort there in his mind.

Nope - that door knob was actually moving as he crept closer.

With a quick motion he yanked open his door. There stood a teenaged girl - the one who'd thought maybe she'd break into his apartment while she mistakenly thought he was away at his work.

Wrong! Surprise! He was standing right there and he confronted her in not so nice terms. He asked her what the h__ she was doing. She muttered and mumbled something about looking for the laundry room. Recognizing her as a long term occupant of the building - he knew BS when he heard it. He yelled - she ran.

That's when he'd had about enough and decided to give a call and share his exciting day with me.

I told him it was "The Family Friend's Really and Truly Bad Day." I gave him the award for having had the worst day post-flood yet - at least in the terms of what he'd gone through. There are variables in these bad post-flood days - his took the award for the oddest of any I've heard recently at the least.

Those 'Alzheimers Travelers' stick in my head though and I almost think those particular players in his truly bad day require a warning of some sort. I'd beware - lock your cars folks. You never know when an alleged 'Alzheimers victim' may decide to rummage through your vehicle while you run in to grab a cup of java to go.

Today's thought: Appreciate the day that you've just had. Count yourself lucky that you've made it through and hope for a better tomorrow - or a repeat if you've been blessed with a great day today.

'Til next time, Pam

Counting a Post-Flood Silver Lining

Today had been going quite well - we'd accomplished several things on our weekend to-do list. Best of all - we were outside enjoying a lovely day here in the Southern Tier of NY State.

My daughter and I added cedar mulch to the newly 'ovalized' flowerbed and we wiped our hands off when we were done and checked that job off the list.

It was getting a bit warm by then and my daughter longed for the water to the hose to be turned on. Now that spring is racing into the summer season - she wanted to play with the hose. She's accepted the fact that we can't have a kiddie pool or any other type of summertime fun pool here at this home - since it'd likely float off during the next flood.

She called our family friend and asked if he could stop by and help turn that hose on - I'd tried and I couldn't make that knob move at all. In hindsight - it's really good she called him and he was here for that 'turning on' moment.

Pretty soon he showed up and we all went downstairs to the Family Room - that's where the hose shut-off is located. It's behind that smaller door - hidden away from sight with the water main valve. Of course - since the Invisible Flood of 06 - there still isn't a door there - that's waiting until the floor is installed first. Our recovery is in stages and we haven't reached that particular stage quite yet - 50 weeks post-flood.

He turned it on with great effort - mentioning that 22 year old son of mine shouldn't turn it off so tightly next time. I didn't bother to spill the beans that it was actually our friend - himself - who'd turned that knob off last fall. I didn't want to be annoying with details like that when he'd been kind enough to come on over and give us a hand. Luckily my daughter kept quite on that score too - she just wanted that hose working and was ready to have fun.

Outside we went to turn the hose on. Right away we discovered that the hose had a very large slit in it - water was spraying all over and none where it should have been spraying.

No problem - there was another hose in the garage - we'd just go get that one and hook it up. We told my daughter to run downstairs and open the garage for us so we could get that hose she was anxious to have working and spraying. She quickly was more than willing to take on that request.

Within a few minutes - the garage door opened and before we could take the hose off it's connection - that daughter of mine delivered the news.

"You'd better wait on that - come quick - the Family Room is full of water!"

You can believe we moved quickly - as she advised us to do - and within seconds we were in the Family Room and racing into action.

"Quick - run upstairs to the linen closet and grab all the big towels and bring them to mommy!"

"Oh man! What the heck is wrong?"

"Darn house - darn house!"

"Here's the towels!"

In one swoop we had towels soaking up the water on the floor. "Oh look - the wall is wet! It sprayed one of the ceiling tiles too!" You get the idea - we were wiping water up fast!

"Go outside and turn the hose on again" was the command to my daughter. Out she raced and in a blink of an eye there was that darn water - spraying all over again.

"Shut it off! Shut it off fast!"

She was as good as gold - off went that water valve.

Now we knew the culprit - a broken pipe going outside to the water turn-on knob. It must have frozen during the winter - but why? We'd shut it off in a timely manner in the fall.

Our family friend thinks it was just getting old, it's time was up. He's already working up the plan to repair it for us - making a mental note of the materials and tools he'll need for the job.

It was then that we realized all was not lost. We'd worked so quickly - no damage was done to the Family Room. If that one ceiling tile ends up with a water mark - I have smartly retained 5 brand new ones for such an emergency replacement. Those water-logged towels are in the washing machine as I write this evening.

More importantly - we realized that a little girl could still have her spraying fun with a hose! We walked back to the garage and turned on that hose instead.

I'd forgotten we have two hoses here in this house of ours. We've been so preoccupied with flood-recovery - I truly have yet to get to know this home we moved into to get away from the flooding at our last home.

The fun began - our family friend was the hose master and my daughter was the happy kid running and dodging the spray. I couldn't tell who was having the most fun - they both were laughing and enjoying the water a lot.

As for myself - I was saying a prayer of gratitude while they laughed and had a great time. I was thankful for no damage done - for our family friend being present when this event happened - for my daughter coming downstairs through the Family Room to open a door and being aware enough to recognize a problem when one was occuring. All was well and I was grateful.

I was grateful as well that my daughter hasn't lost her love of playing in water. I think that's a blessing too. She may be afraid of another Invisible Flood that might come along with one of those rainstorms she fears so much - but she hasn't stopped liking a good soaking from the hose on a hot late spring day.

Today's thought: Simple blessings are often the very nicest.

'Til next post, Pam

Finding Patience While Waiting For Flood Recovery To Begin - 50 Weeks Later

I've missed a day or so of blogging - we've been busy trying to finish up our school year here at our home school. I take schooling very seriously - no sluffing off is allowed - the work has to be done, and done well.

The decision was made to save the hardest subject for my sweet daughter to finish up last - handwriting. We've actually been working on it all year - it's cursive learning year - but the last few weeks I've let her have the pleasure of finishing up all her other workbooks from our curriculum school and put the cursive workbook to the wayside. She enjoyed the break and once we started getting back into learning the upper case cursive letters she was more receptive.

Upper case "G" took all of 7 hours - it wins the prize for taking the longest. All the remainder of the letters have taken less time - and let me tell you I am so very glad. Yesterday she finished up letter "Z" and moved on to the last few pages of her workbook - sentences, letters, and other lengthy amounts of practicing that lovely cursive handwriting she's been learning all year.

Today she finished the workbook. She's done with her entire curriculum 3 weeks early! We now get to have fun schooling for the next few weeks - we've both been waiting for this time! We have science kits to play with, books to read, art programs to explore, garden flower seeds to plant - fun is waiting for us come Monday morning!

In between everything else - we've been working on projects, calling the repair people required to fix out flood damaged home - and doing ''emergency" dog walking too.

Not only do I now have the mason of choice lined up for sometime this month, and the carpenter to fix the back elevated porch - I now have the perfect handyman!

My neighbors - from two different flood victimized homes right next door - brought over their personal favorite handyman the other evening. I'm excited to have made this fella's acquaintance! He is going to hop right into some work I really need help to complete. He's pretty much finished helping my neighbors now and is ready and willing to jump in to help me.

It turns out that we have a bit of problem with the walls we installed downstairs in the Family Room. My helpers didn't quite get it right on the installation and I've sadly been watching a bit of stressful changes taking place. I had thought we'd be taking the new ceiling down again and starting again on the walls from square one. That thought has made me a bit uneasy for the past two weeks. Heartsick might be a better word for how I've been feeling.

Not to worry - the handyman knew exactly why and what is happening down there and he knows how to correct it! If he can fix it - and he's sure he can - I will be one happy person again real soon. He said my helpers didn't nail the wallboard good enough - they were stingy with nails. He can fix it - and I believe him. I thought they should have nailed a lot more than they did too.

I was taken two houses away so I could see this fella's workmanship firsthand. He does do nice work - the "proof was in the pudding." I saw the results of his carpentry, spackling, and various other repair and rebuilding work. I think I just became really lucky.

Not only will he help me fine tune our repairs in the Family Room - now that both of my helpers are off doing their thing and leaving me alone to figure out what to do to overcome these problems - he also will help me fix some things I'd wanted to do last summer before the Invisible Flood of 06 showed it's ugly floodwater nasty face.

He's going to build a closet, this house does not have a coat closet but I know of a perfect location for one to be easily built.

Best of all - he will be making a patio outside our backdoor next weekend! I've wanted to have a stone patio outside our backdoor ever since we moved into this house 10 months prior to the flood. The area outside the backdoor is scary to mow - it's an incline - and in reality it's impossible to mow. It's a weed-trimmer area and I personally am not excited to use the weed-trimmer. I ache too much after I use that darn piece of helpful equipment.

Today I bought the edging stones he requested I pick up for the project - right after my daughter built her Father's Day project at our favorite home improvement store kid's workshop. A bonus for us was that they were giving the kids a $10 off gift card to give those dad's too - they gave her one and said "Give it to your mom!" You can see why that store is a favorite of mine right?

When we arrived home and layed out those edging stones on the lawn - I was real excited. Just doing that gave form to the patio I should have by next weekend.

Soon after we'd finished drawing with the edging stones - along came our new handyman and he informed me that the cost of the stones for the patio itself was way less in cost than he'd expected.

It turns out that while we were off at the grocery store the other night - he'd brought the person he buys the stone from over to take a look. When the wife of the stone person found out who needed the stones - she told her husband he "had to give her a good price - we go to church together." She told him "She's nice and always pitches in to help" - and "You'd better give her a good price on stones." I feel real blessed on that score this evening.

The other day I mentioned to my sis that even though I've made progress and I've been retaining the services of workers of choice to fix out home - I'm still feeling a bit discouraged because none of the actual repairing is yet taking place. I'm trying to stay patient, I am, but it's still discouraging after waiting almost 50 weeks post-flood.

I think the day the mason shows up to start I will begin to believe our home will really be repaired. Until then - I still feel a bit untrusting it will ever become a reality.

While we've been waiting - during breaks and on evenings - my daughter and I have been working on something we can accomplish.

Last June 28th - as we exited our home due to the flood - the last photo I took was this one to the left here.

My daugher and I had worked hard all early spring and the fall prior - to plant that totally bare flowerbed that encircled the flag pole that is planted dead center in it.

I snapped the photo because I didn't know if the flowers would survive the flood - it was coming at it as we drove off towards our hope of finding ground much higher than where we lived.

This is the result of our efforts - how that same flowerbed looked early this spring. All our plants came forth and have been steadily blossoming for our enjoyment.

These particular plants are tid-bits I had dug up at our former home - from my massive obsessive-compulsive gardens there. I wanted bits of them to bring with us and I stored them away at my neighbors until I found a new home where I could plant them.

I shouldn't have worried, but I did. I know often when you sell a home they put a clause in the contract that includes all plantings - I wanted my bits and pieces removed before I listed our former home - just to know I had them first.

The folks who bought our home are nice people - they tell me to come get anything I want from the gardens. They realize now just how much of an over-abundance of plantings they have there. I'm glad for that because not all of my clippings and bits survived the move.

I never liked that circle surrounding the flap pole here at this house - nothing against circles but I don't like it.

Last June I'd planned to change that circle into an oval but then the flood came along.

While we're waiting for the work to start here at our home - I've finally gotten to do what I'd planned for last year. This photo shows the result of my daughter and I changing that circle.

Today we planted more perennials in the new area of that changed to an oval - circle has been - of a flowerbed. I was thrilled! It took an extra year due to the flood - but I have changed something here at our new home! Finally! Once the new plants we planted today perk up from their shock of moving into the new soil - I'll take another photo of how it looks currently.

Now if we can only stay flood-free this summer and have a chance to change burgandy wall colors to something much more to my liking - I'll be a real happy person.

The other thing we've been doing in this interm lull before the flood recovery work really gets underway - has been to 'beautify' our porch for summer.

My daughter and I like to sit on our front porch here at this home - and we share a lot of nice times outside there.

We've gotten the flower boxes growing with pretty plants, hung up a fuchisa plant to attract humming birds and this year we even went all out and bought a feeder too. I'd noticed the humming bird that was visiting the flowers - I figured we should let it know we welcomed it's presence.

As far as the electrian I'm still waiting to show up and give me an estimate - I've decided it's time to try someone else. I learned this week that he left our neighbors with one working electric heat source for the winter - he came back this spring to fix the other. They were pretty cold all winter as it turns out. I decided I may end up waiting for a few years before he finds time to trouble himself to stop by - can you imagine how long I'd be waiting for the repairs to take place. It's time to try someone else.

Today's thought: Rather than get impatient over delays in progress - find another task to focus on - before you know it things will start looking brighter.

'Til next time, Pam

Post-Flood Elevated Porch Repair Update

Last June - when we returned home following the Invisible Flood of 06 - our rear elevated porch was found to have been impacted by the floodwater that had been pushing itself against it for three days we were away at the shelter.

The sides underneath the porch had been pushed in on one side and pushed out on the other. The bottom part looks a bit crooked - off or out of kilter. The posts underneath the porch had been pushed over to the edges of the concrete piers they'd been squarely resting upon prior to the flood.

In the photos you can see the floodwater was still present when we finally returned home on June 30th - the first day we were able to get back to view what had happened to our lovely home. We couldn't walk entirely around our home on this first day we returned to take a look. Only a few areas on 3 sides of the house were 'walkable' - it took a few more days for the floodwater to leave the garage side and the adjacent lawn.

This next photo gives you a better view of how much floodwater was still in our yard - the Susquehanna River was still taking it's good old time in saying it's goodbyes.

The photo also gives you a bit better view of the side underneath the porch that the floodwater pushed outwards. If I touch any of that wood underneath now - it falls right to the ground. I don't touch it - I stay far and clear of the entire thing.

My daughter and I had used this tiny porch to sit outside on nice days to do school lessons in the fresh air and sunshine. The flood stopped that real quick. Since last June we wouldn't dare set foot on this porch - not even to retrieve the table and chairs that are still sitting on it.

It's been difficult to find a carpenter to give me an estimate on repairing this porch. I've tried - trust me on this - I've been banging my head against the wall trying.

One guy sent me a proposal for various of the flood damage repairs that we need to have done. On the line where he'd listed the 'porch repair' - he didn't put a price down - he wrote a question mark instead. You and I both know a question mark really doesn't answer the problem of "what will it cost to repair." A question mark tells me nothing - other than I don't want that person to do my work. If it takes too much effort to quote me a price - maybe it'd take to much effort to properly repair my home.

The good news this week is that I have finally found a person who was not only willing to come see the porch and talk with me about repairing it - he also got right back to me the very next morning with a proposal that actually included a decent price! I could tell when I first met him - he was not going to be a 'question mark' kind of guy.

About the only downside to this is that he's busy - he won't get to our porch until the end of July. That's OK though - it's waited 49+ weeks already - an extra month or so isn't a big deal anymore.

On the upside - this porch will get a total overhaul once he sets about his work. He's going to start at square one and work his way up - replacing everything right up to the underside of the porch's roof. His price includes rebuilding from the ground up - new supports, new floor, new railings and even stairs down to the ground below! By his calculations - we'll actually gain 4 feet of floor space too.

I'm very excited to know we will soon have stairs leading down from this porch - it would be my daughter's and my fire escape if that worst-case scenario were to happen and we couldn't get out the front door. I've wanted stairs off that porch since the day we bought this home. Just knowing they will soon be a reality will be a bit of relief for my mind.

The carpenter looked at me a little oddly when I said I wished there were a way to throw in a second wall on that porch. I explained if it had that second wall - it would become one of those rare covered items on that NFIP Flood Insurance policy. I asked him how many porches he knows of that have two walls - he shook his head and said he couldn't think of very many either.

I've been hatching another of those plans of mine - those 'flood mitigation' type plans. Once the carpenter sets to work rebuilding this flood-damaged porch of ours - the mason should be steadily at work here doing his share of our flood recovery work. My plan is to have the mason add his bit of expert knowledge and ability to the task of securing the bottom supports with concrete. I'll let him figure out how that needs to be accomplished - but I want those supports immovable when the next flood comes to visit.

Now if I could only get that electrian to get here and give me his estimate - I'd be one happy person. He's been working across the street lately - yet never stops over here to quote that price I'm anxiously waiting to hear.

I need to know his price before I can formulate my next series of flood recovery plans for our home. It's a bit hard - working with a limited budget due to the NFIP's 'limited coverage' of our damages and FEMA's non-existant help. I'm determined to stay within my budget and my refusal to let the Invisible Flood of 06 put me into debt. That electrician's price may make the difference between hiring someone to install those ceramic tiles in the Family Room - or our needing to do it ourselves somehow.

Maybe a phone message reminding him I'm still waiting is due right about now. Maybe next time he's across the street he could pop over here and let me know that important information I'm waiting on. Heck - maybe I'll suggest that in my message.

Today's thought: We all have times when something slips our mind - rather than get upset with the person - perhaps all that is needed is a gentle reminder.

'Til next time, Pam

Project Recovery Meeting Scheduled For Tonight

This evening - June 6th - the Afton United Methodist Church will host a public meeting with Project Recovery. The meeting is set to start at 7 p.m. and is open to the public. The Afton UMC is located at 34 Spring Street.

Our Pastor did indeed place an article in the local newspaper for the Project Recovery folks - the article was published in last week's edition. Hopefully folks noticed it there on page 2 of The Tri-Town News.

The article tells us that representatives from the Red Cross, Chenango Area Recovery Team (CART), Opportunities for Chenango, 'local officials' and Project Recovery will all be in attendance this evening.

An interesting agenda has been planned, our Pastor listed several topics which are to be discussed this evening. The plans include the discussion of how we might better organize and respond in the event of another disaster, creating a disaster recovery plan in preparation for future events and establishing a shelter system which would also include creating a pet shelter.

Other topics of interest to be discussed - which the article mentions - are areas of unmet needs, how the community might help, and ideas to commemorate the 2006 flood and honor it's victims.

The article also said "All Afton area residents who have felt the effects of last June's flood" might want to come and share their stories. It goes on to mention that flood related needs still exist and tells us we might learn how those needs can be met.

Our Pastor is hoping folks from all area churches and groups will attend. The wish is that as a community we might join together and turn our "disaster into an opportunity for renewal and growth."

My personal hope is that it's not just our Pastor, my daughter and I that show up again. My wish would be that we have a big turn-out of folks attending this meeting tonight. Time will tell.

I'm not sure if signs were placed around town this week - we've been home working hard on finishing up school. I didn't notice a sign last Sunday when I stopped at the local grocery store - maybe it was on the bulletin board again buried under all the other signs. That bulletin board is a busy one - lots of signs are always going up on it.

You can be sure we'll be checking out this Project Recovery meeting this evening, and just as sure I'll let you know my thoughts on the subject afterwards.

I've noticed my blog article about the last meeting has suddenly been very popular this week - the article about that 'spur of the moment meeting' a few weeks ago. I have my own thoughts on why that might be - that 'sudden popularity' of that particular article - especially since all that interest has been mainly coming out of one city in our county.

Truthfully - I hope the meeting tonight is a great success - I'm going to it with just as open of a mind as I went last time. I would be thrilled to see a huge turn-out and a room full of flood victims, concerned citizens and officials. It would be terrific if our Pastor's hope of something good coming out of our disaster last June were to become a reality.

The morning plan is to call my neighbors and make sure they know about the meeting. I encourage any of Afton's flood victims - who might stop by the blog today - to attend the meeting tonight.

It might turn out to be a worthwhile meeting - maybe we'll learn something new that we aren't aware of yet - now that we're 3 weeks shy of the anniversary date of the Invisible Flood of 06. That seems hard to imagine - and maybe it's a bit of my magical thinking - but then again - nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Even now - 49 weeks (344 days) after the Invisible Flood of 06 washed over our area - I still hold hope that one day our home will be actually be repaired and our lives will someday get back to normal.

It's that optimistic streak inside of me that has carried me through these past 49 weeks of struggling to recover from the flood - and it's with that same optimism in mind that I'll be attending tonight's meeting. I hope others join us.

'Til next post, Pam

Ticked-Off At Lyme Ticks and Dress-Codes

About a week ago that 22 year old son of mine discovered he'd gotten a bonus from that summer job of his - Lyme ticks.

His summer employment is at a NYS Park and his first job duty was to do a bit of weed trimming there at that nice park. That's all it took - by evening he'd found the ticks enjoying themselves as ticks do - by burrowing themselves into his skin.

The next morning he was visiting the doctor to rid himself of those visitors - where he also had the pleasure of hearing the doctor say "Yes, they do appear to be Lyme ticks." One of those tiny visitors wasn't happy to be told to leave - it took a bit of encouraging from the doctor's instruments to get it to loosen its grip.

Soon that son was at the pharmacy picking up the first round of antibiotic that he'll be taking for about a month's time. It's one of those strong ones - the kind that's a bit rough on the stomach. It's also one that warns you not to be outside in the sunlight.

Staying out of sunlight is a little difficult when your summer employment is meant to be working at a State Park. Needless to say - he was a tad-bit concerned about what the 'boss' would say when he relayed this information.

The news didn't go over real well - but they soon found him a job of cleaning the latrines - at least for that first day back on the job. That same night - he found yet another tick had come for dinner.

That's when I told him "See - I told you that you should have just painted the house for me this summer!"

He wasn't even mad at me for saying that - he said he may end up doing that painting - it's under more serious consideration currently.

The final decision will stay on hold for the moment - until he goes back to the doctor in a couple more weeks for the Lyme test he will next have the pleasure of experiencing. That test will let him know if the antibiotic did its job or if he will have the unwanted pleasure of needing even stronger medication to fight that Lyme disease.

If you'd like to learn more about Lyme disease - Wikipedia has an informative section where you are also able to get a magnified view of one of these lovely ticks I'm writing about this morning.

I was talking with my oldest son over the weekend and the topic of his brother's dilemma came up. That oldest son of mine had a good laugh when I mentioned to him that I was 'ticked-off.'

When I learned about his brother finding those ticks - the first thing I asked him was "What were you wearing?" It turned out he was wearing long pants, high boots - all the proper clothing if you just happen to have a summer job in an area of NYS known for having a high incident of Lyme ticks.

The thing is - all the good advice is to wear light colored clothing - that way you can see those ticks easier. The ticks are tiny and pretty hard to spot - from what I've read they are about the size of the period at the end of this sentence.

My next question was - "What color clothes were you wearing?" That's when he informed me they are required to wear either green or 'kaki' pants.

That's what I was 'ticked-off' about - knowing that our very own state has it's young people working summer jobs - outside in a 'higher incident of Lyme ticks area' - wearing required dress-code colors that lessen their ability to see if they're picking up any of those darn ticks. Obviously the state does not bother to follow those 'public safety/awareness guidelines' they offer to the general public.

Maybe it's time - NYS - to change that dress-code for park employees - to a more appropriate color for spotting ticks.

It makes sense to me to do something as simple as changing a color choice for the clothing our young people wear during their summer employment at your state parks. It's easy to make a change like that - since you don't supply their clothing anyway. You just choose the colors you tell them they have to wear - it's not like its coming out of the state's pocket.

I suppose though - this would probably involve some real expensive study on the subject of color choices. There'd probably be lots of varying points of view on whether it should be a basic white or a brilliant white - or the palest shade of beige or cream.

It's a safe bet - this simple change could end up taking lots of years to decide and lots more before it went into effect.

Meanwhile - how many more of our young folks - trying to make a bit of money working over the summer months - will have picked up a serving of ticks accompanied by a side dish of Lyme disease?

Today's thought: Do we always have to make everything so complicated? Couldn't we just start using common sense again?

'Til next time, Pam

Bravo to Michael and the Leadership Class!

The last few days the blog has had a visitor looking for the definition of a flood. As a "public service" so to speak - what the heck - I looked up the definition for them. Our visitor is from the country of India - maybe they have a shortage of dictionaries for all I know - and I want to promote literacy.

Flood - as a noun: a flow of water over what is normally dry land, an outpouring of anything such as a flood of words, a flood of light.

I'll stick with those definitions - they work well here on the blog. We definately saw a flood of water last June - over what really should be dry land, and this blog has been a flood of words ever since - I've been trying to flood light on the subject - to put those thoughts mildly.

Sometime yesterday evening - the blog had a young visitor. He left a comment on a blog article I'd written back in April. I actually had to sit and wonder as I read his comment in the early hours of the morning today - I sort of shook my head and wondered if he really meant to be directing his question towards little old 'me.'

After checking into Michael's own blog - Leadership Class - I'm impressed - very impressed.

This is the comment I found this morning:

Michael has left a new comment on your post "Thoughts on Post-Flood National River Cleanup Week...":

Hi my name is Michael, I am 14 years old and come from New Zealand. It is cool looking at your project as it is on a bigger scale than ours. My classmates and I are trying to clean up our local river. It would be great if you could leave a comment with any ideas or suggestions and about your experiences in conservation!

When Michael says he and his classmates are trying to clean up their local river - take him at his word! I applaud them - they are one ambitious group of young folks! They have been investigating sources of pollution, visiting local businesses along the river - you name it - this group of young people are making the effort!

After reading their blog - I wish we could bottle their energy and initiative and fill our future with their caring! Heck - I wish I could have them visit our swampland for a day - it'd be cleaned up and spic and span in no time!

I urge the blog's readers to take a minute to visit Michael's blog - you'll be glad you did! And I also urge you to offer him advice - his leadership class is hoping to find some very good ideas they may not have yet stumbled upon in terms of conservation and cleaning up a river.

It's pretty certain there are blog readers here who may be a great source of help for their project - perhaps our friend Don could pay them a visit or even American Rivers might lend them a bit of helpful advice. Let's all encourage their efforts! I'd consider it a great favor if you'd take a moment to offer a bit of good advice to Michael and his leadership group.

As for what I might offer in terms of Michael's questions - wow - I've had to think on that all day.

I guess what I'd offer as advice is that even when our hands are tied and we can't make something change - we can still be vocal about it. We can point it out - we can show the nonsense or harm it causes or is causing. We don't have to be sheep and go along with anything our gut tells us is wrong.

Each of us - every single one of us here on the planet Earth - can be a good steward or good shephard of our precious planet and it's natural resources - and even of it's people. A single person can and does indeed make a difference - and a group gathered together makes an even bigger difference.

Even a lone voice calling out is heard - it just takes a bit longer sometimes. It's still more effective than doing nothing and allowing harm to come to what we know we should be protecting.

If we do nothing - and stay silent - we really have no right to complain. We each owe it to the Earth to do all we can to heal the damages we've collectively done over time - and one step at a time is all we are able do sometimes. It still counts. It counts a lot. It matters.

I cannot physically clean the entire length of the Susquehanna River's banks of the debris the Invisible Flood of 06 left behind. It's an impossible task and I don't have the resources to do it. I wish I could though. If I won the lottery I'd do it in a heartbeat.

What I can do - is point out all the debris that's left behind - call attention to it. Maybe some group of folks will hear my call and want to do something about it. Maybe they'll sign up a group to clean - oh let's say - a stretch of riverbank between Afton and Nineveh. Anywhere - I don't care - the debris is all over from points north to points south.

Maybe it will inspire a process like they currently have along the highways - maybe they'll come up with those signs that say "This stretch of riverbank is cleaned by ___" Wouldn't that be great? Hopefully they'd do a better job too - than along some of the highways where those signs are posted.

All we can do is try - each in our own ways. It's the effort that counts and the awareness we raise does make a difference.

Bravo to you Michael and to your Leadership Class! I for one am very - very - proud of you.

Today's thought: Are you making a difference?

'Til next post, Pam

Rain With a Serving of Post Traumatic Stress

The NOAA National Weather Service is mentioning we may have slight river rises due to Tropical Storm - or Depression Barry arriving on the scene.

This is how the Susquehanna River has been looking the last several days - nice and low. You can barely make it out - hiding down low by those riverbanks across the street.

It's still deep enough for boating - we've seen quite a few boats lately - fishermen for the most part. Maybe I should say fisherpersons in today's world - but they were men in those boats - so why bother.

My daughter has been under the weather the last few days - she caught a cold. It's not the cold making her under the weather though - it's the actual weather doing that. It's been raining now and then - a few rumbles of thunder too, that's all it takes and she's anxious.

Friday and Saturday evenings were a bit sweltering here at our home - enough I even turned on the AC for a few minutes for our big old dog Sid. He has a very thick coat of fur and he's heading into his senior years now - not to mention the fact that the vet thinks he has lymphoma. He looked even more uncomfortable than I felt from the heat.

The problem lately with rain mixed with hot humid weather here at our house is that they now spell trouble. The rain starts and that daughter of mine gets frantic - she starts closing up the windows. I go around and reopen them - she turns around and closes them again.

No amount of reassurance that I will close them if I hear thunder will help her. Nope - if it's raining - things now - in our post-Invisible Flood of 06 world - need to be shut fast and stay shut.

Somehow to her way of thinking - that keeps us safe from floods. If she can muffle the sound of the rain or the thunder - it's not as present in her mind. She can block it out - or try to block out those worries troubling her.

Meanwhile - we roast, swelter, we sweat, we toss and turn and can't sleep due to the overpowering humid heat and the closed up real tight windows.

I couldn't believe that on May 30th I had to break down and turn on the AC in the bedroom in order to have a few hours of sleep at night. All because it's raining and the little lady is now that afraid of the sound of rain again.

What's up with it being so hot in the middle of the spring season anyway? It's not summer yet - that's about a month or less away.

Lucky for us - a lot of the rain storms locally have seemed to bypass our town - or at least our side of the river. Most of the thunder has been far in the distance and while we've had a rain shower now and then - none have been anything of concern, except to my daughter.

We set out late this afternoon for a surprise birthday party for a close friend of mine - she's turning an age I'd better not share here on the blog in case she happens to stop by and sees I disclosed that information.

I'd thought about not going when I saw the forecast - I really didn't think I'd like driving in a rainstorm that might let loose with an inch of rain all of a sudden. My daughter began getting upset to think we might not go - so off we went.

Within a short time of getting on the highway headed for the party - we ran into a good enough storm that a little voice spoke from the back seat "I'm sorry I made you go to the party. Can you see? Should we turn around?"

I could see just fine - it's wasn't that awful of a storm - but she did learn something in that moment. Maybe she'll remember next time - though probably not.

The problem was - now the rain was upsetting me. We arrived at the party but I kept scanning the sky. I listened for the thunder - I'd seen the NOAA radar shots of what was coming along any time - or whenever it swirled around in our direction.

I was thinking I really didn't want to be driving through that area on the highway that let loose with landslides last November - not if very heavy rains might show up. I remember keenly how our neighbor just barely slipped out of that mess as it was happening back then in the fall.

It wasn't a worry about the river rising and a flood coming - it was all the other possibilities between the site of that surprise birthday party and our getting home safely.

We stayed an hour and a half - that last half hour was just trying to drag my daughter away. She's one for long goodbyes - parting is more than sweet sorrow for this girl - it's torture.

She kept scanning the sky for rain clouds as we headed home, muttering that we could have stayed longer at the party.

Then she walked in the house and once again started shutting all those windows up good and tight. It was sprinkling again.

Today's thought: You never quite know when and where the after-effects of a disaster will show up - you learn as you go forward.

'Til next time, Pam

"Water Power The Flood of '06"

Several months after my oldest son had encouraged me to start blogging about the Invisible Flood of 06 - I noticed a few of our local newspapers carried a small article about a 'local author' who was planning to write and publish a book about our flood.

Those articles mentioned the author was seeking individuals who'd been impacted by the flood and who might be willing to share their stories. Details were given on how such a flood victim might contact the author to share their story.

By now you know - reading those articles caught my attention right away. I was very interested in knowing more about this author and about when the book might show up on the market.

However - I wasn't interested in contacting the author to share my very own flood story - I figured I'd already been doing that all along here on the blog. I wanted to keep my story - my story - and not have it become part of someone else's telling of the flooding event.

Those articles appeared in the local newspapers about 4 or 5 months following the flood - most likely it was back in October or November of last year when I came across them. I waited patiently - for the past 6 months - scanning those very same local newspapers each week in the hope of finding that one elusive article - the one that would tell me that the book had been published.

Funny thing was - I found out without ever finding that information in a newspaper. It did show up in one of the newspapers the very same week - but by then I already had my very own copy right in my hands.

I found out the day a painter stopped over to give an estimate on painting the exterior of our home. All the dampness and moisture during and following the flood had a bad effect on our home's exterior paint - it's now peeling, cracking and flaking off at a pretty rapid rate.

The painter and I were talking about the flood - his home had been seriously damaged, he told me he'd spent all of last summer and fall restoring and repairing it. He had the misfortune of living along the Susquehanna River near Nineveh, NY. That area was hit very hard - it's in the same vicinity as those rotting and decaying trailers I show photos of here on the blog from time to time.

As we were comparing notes on the flood and the recovery process - he happened to mention he often stops at a local diner to grab a bite to eat. He also mentioned that particular diner having a book about our flood - he asked if I'd been there and noticed it. He even thought he might have seen a photo of our street in that book. I said I hadn't checked it out yet - but you can be sure I was already mentally planning to be there that same evening to check out this hot tip!

When dinner time rolled around that evening I asked that 22 year old son of mine to accompany his sister and I for a new dining experience. I was pretty surprised when he agreed to come along on our adventure. He wanted to see the book too.

We weren't seated at the diner very long before we spied a copy of the book sitting near the cash register. As soon as the server stopped to ask what we'd like to drink - my answer was to ask if the book was for sale.

"Oh yes, they're for sale."

"Could I buy one right now? Right now - before we order?"

"Yes, sure - I'll go get you a copy."

I looked over at my son and told him that particular server had just earned a very good tip.

Within a few moments the book was in my hands. It was a bit costly - but so was The Daily Star's Flood 2006 book. Without looking at both receipts to be certain - I believe both books are priced just about equally.

Even before we'd ordered our dinner - all three of us were reading the book - thumbing through the photos - and having a great time of checking it out. The long awaited book was right there on our table and I was one happy person that evening.

Being the odd blogger I've become - right away I checked the book for contact information. As soon as I'd taken a look at it - I knew I wanted to share my discovery with the blog's readers.

Fortunately - the book does contain contact information and as soon as we arrived back home that evening I was sitting at the computer writing to the author. My hope was to gain permission to photograph the book's cover for my 'review' of it here on the blog.

As a result of a few emails going back and forth between the author and myself - permission was granted and I now - very happily introduce the book:

"Water Power The Flood of '06" by Rebecca VanDerHeide.

"Water Power" is not a 'little' book, the dimensions of it measure 10 3/4 inches long by 8 inches wide and nearly a half inch thick. While it is a paperback book - it has sturdy glossy covers - both of which include photos.

As Rebecca VanDerHeide and I emailed back and forth - I had the pleasure of learning a bit more about her thought process that led her to want to write this particular book. Through the process of requesting permission to use a photograph of her book cover - I feel I've also found a new friend. She generously answered my questions and I thank her for taking the time out of her day to do so.

Rebecca explained that she'd been a county employee for a great number of years and told me about the decision during October of 2006 to part company with the job she'd held for so long. It was at that turning point in her life she decided "to start investigating the possibility of rounding up enough info/interviews/photos to put together a book."

She began the interviewing process in early November and placed the articles in the newspapers hoping to find photos and also hoping to find an opportunity to interview someone living in a FEMA trailer. Oh- if only I'd know! Our family friend might have made the perfect subject for that interview!

It seems that Rebecca "came across a copy of a book that was published in 1935 about the Great Flood of '35." That particular book nagged at her - she'd come across it, pick it up and she'd "sit and look at the pictures and marvel at the stories the pictures and captions told."

She decided if she could find that book so fascinating more than 70 years after the event - "maybe a book about an even BIGGER flood would be enduring as well."

There was a bit of a writer already inside Rebecca, she'd always wanted to write a book. It's apparently a family writing bug - her mother, Fran Bromley, had already written a book titled "By The Way." Rebecca's mom's book was "predictably about local history and the proceeds have gone to the Harpursville Historical Society." If memory serves me correctly - I believe Rebecca's mom has been in the past or is still currently the Town Historian for Harpursville. Even Rebecca's father had hoped to write his own book and Rebecca makes note in the book's 'Dedication' that her book is for her dad.

It was delightful to hear about Rebecca's experience into the realm of learning to have a book published. She had the pleasure of meeting 'a whole bunch of neat people' and beyond that learned how to contact professionals to get her book off the ground. She refers to this as an "INCREDIBLE learning experience" and I am sure it was!

Now - let me tell you a bit about Rebecca's book.

First off - Rebecca - your father would be beaming and one really proud dad! If he were anything like my own dad - he'd be telling you "You've done well daughter!"

"Water Power" is an interesting book. Rebecca has broken the subject - the flood - into sections, mainly by towns impacted in 'our neck of the woods' - within Chenango, Broome, and Delaware Counties. There are sections - for example - on Nineveh and others on Afton, Sidney and Bainbridge.

While the book is not able to tell each and every tale or story - it is a very nice summary of main events as recalled by the folks intimately involved. With that said - I do need to note that every remembrance is limited by the memory of the person telling their story. Dates may not agree with what another may recall - but allowing for such a difference - it's a great summary of the stories held within it's covers.

Rebecca terms her book as being "a collection of 'people stories' that creates a true chronicle of the events of June '06 in the upper Susquehanna valley." It is important to Rebecca that the reader know that "They are tales of tragedy and triumph, fear and heroism, loss and recovery and faith and resilience."

I understand Rebecca's wanting to share the 'people stories' because as I've experienced firsthand - each is a different story. While Rebecca told me she did encounter negatives along the way - she did her best to turn those negatives into positives in regard to the story she wanted to share.

As a flood victim and - dare I say - the author - of this blog about The Invisible Flood of o6 - the alter ego perhaps - of "Water Power The Flood of 06" - I recommend Rebecca's book highly. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. There have been parts I've asked my daughter to re-read to me - I was so amazed at what I'd heard and wanted to verify my daughter was reading accurately. There is humor, caring, and stories that will make you do a lot of thinking.

My daughter's all time favorite section is about the "Kingdom Puppets" and that is all I'm going to tell you about that part of the book - if you want to know the story - and enjoy it as much as we both did - you'll just have to order yourself a copy and find out what caused us so much heartfelt laughter, amazement and joy. Rebecca informed me she's been toying with turning that particular section into a children's book.

In reading through "Water Power" I learned things right beyond my back forest that I'd wondered about since the good old Susquehanna River came rushing in last June. I heard the tales of neighbors I've yet to meet - but for whom I honestly worried during the days of the flooding. Amazingly they fared better than our family while I had thought the opposite.

It's my hope that Rebecca's book will have steady sales - it's worth the price, especially if you were a flood victim in this area of NY. It is actually a book of hope for everyone. It is good to read about the efforts and the trials - to know help arrived in the nick of time - right on cue.

I endorse Rebecca's book and if you would like to have a copy to read for yourself you may contact Rebecca VanDerHeide via email at: waterpower@tds.net to inquire about purchasing her book.

The price is $24.95 plus shipping and tax. I know that may seem a bit steep - but in the end I truly feel it's been worth every penny. While The Daily Star's Flood of 2006 book was great photography of the flood - Rebecca's book is a good reading experience.

Congratulations Rebecca - it's a great little book!

Today's thought: Sometimes having a bit of 'disaster history' captured within a story is enduring - a tale for other's to know about down the line of time. Both Rebecca and I have been doing our parts to share that story with you - each in our own way.

'Til next time, Pam