Too much water

It rained this morning. Then it poured! Usually when we see rain that hard, there's a hurricane nearby. But this was a thunderstorm on an unusually warm November day.

Plop plop! What's that sound? Uh-oh, water coming in from our brand new roof! I grabbed a picnic cooler and placed it under the leak but it was not wide enough to catch all the drops that were coming in around the eagle plaque which covers an old hole under a stovepipe. (Before the fireplace was built, there was a woodstove in that part of the room.)

Frank dashed out to the garage and brought in Guppy's wading pool. (I bought it for a dog bath.) I wiped up the puddles with a towel and Frank put the pool under the leak. It did a good job of catching the water.

Then he called the company in Front Royal that installed the new roof. In less than two hours, a crew arrived. Fortunately the rain had stopped so they were able to make repairs. In somewhat broken English, the leader explained that a collar around the old stovepipe had leaked and they had fixed it.

This was not quite the end of my misadventures with water. I drove to the post office, taking the "high road" to get there (up the ridge and then down Orkney Grade). The pond at Wetlands was flooded and muddy, and the tiny creek that feeds it had turned into a torrent. For the ride back I took the "low road" by the golf course, which is usually lush green and pretty. Today much of the golf course was under water. I eyed the dam a bit warily but it looked intact, and when I got to the bridge past the airport, I made sure the creek was still under (not over) the bridge. It was, but only by about ten inches.

Near the snack bar it was a different story. The road was flooded, and as I neared my turn, I saw that the creek was out of its bank and completely over the road. Recalling stories of cars swept away by small creeks that flooded, I started backing up. Then I saw a car come up behind me so I stopped. It was a state policeman. I rolled down by window and he pulled alongside. Do you think it's safe to drive through there? I asked him.

I'm going to find out right now! he answered. He drove through the water and it did not quite reach his floorboards. I followed him and made it across to higher ground, although there was a moment when I felt like I lost traction. Once across I made my turn and headed uphill to the higher drier land of our ridge.