with Lorelle and Brent VanFossen

Tropical Storm Arlene Brings Water So Far

Map of the path of tropical storm arlene and a star for where we areWe’ve been watching the weather maps and occassionally turning on the television’s Weather Channel, eyeing the path of Arlene. It picked up speed yesterday and looked like it might start to form some consistency, but has now weakened and difused. It still has brought a ton of water with it.

Original predictions were from 6 to 18 inches of water in the various places along the Gulf Coast and Florida. It started raining about four this morning, but so far, it’s just rain, not gallons or buckets. Still, this area is so waterlogged, the smallest accumulation can equal massive run off and flooding. The flash flood warnings are still in effect.

We were awakened early this morning with the weather radio announcing that a tornado watch was in effect until 4PM this afternoon. So I expect the winds will pick up.

For the past four years, when we’d see a map on the news it was telling us where the most recent bomb was destroying lives in Israel. We’d look at the maps on the television to try to determine where we were in relationship to the attack, and if friends were nearby.

Now we look at different maps with the same intent. How far away is the natural disaster from us, and how close is it to friends. But we have a new perspective and question to ask. Are we in it’s way?

Yes, are we in the path of nature’s fury? How close will it come? What will it bring when it does visit?

Nature’s terrorist.

We spent long hours late last night going over much of the roof of the trailer, patching up anything that even remotely looked like a place where water could get it. We know there is water damage inside, and we know we have another tearing-apart-the-trailer job waiting for us down the road, but for now, we just want to stop the water. The repairs will come after the rains.

We rolled up the awning and put everything away, tied down, and protected. The bird feeders are the only things left out, but the wind hasn’t arrived and the birds and squirrels are braving the rain when it lets up a little. The baby cardinals and purple finches that have been struggling to figure out the feeders for days are now cowering in the trees and the parents are flying to the feeders and bringing back food for them. Their cries can be heard over the soft patter of rain, screaming “FEED ME”. Too cute.

The raccoon returned for a visit to the peanuts yesterday in the middle of the day. It’s a young one and looks much skinner than the last time I saw it, but that could also be because it was wet from the soft rain we had for about two hours yesterday. It didn’t stay long, run off by the birds and squirrels who have claimed my small “back yard”.

So we all wait and hope that the rain is the most of our worries, and watch the weather maps.

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