Photo of the Day: July 12

Recently, we've been getting buckets and buckets of rain!!! It's been nearly non-stop for two days. And, that's great for some because it means that the crops are getting watered. But here... it's just a teensy bit nervewracking.
Here's a picture of Scotts Creek, which is located directly behind my trailer, when the water is at its usual level. Here we see a reasonable level where you can see rocks poking out and some small rapids. There's even a heron wading calmly through the creek looking for trout. The banks aren't swollen. Everything's nice.

 And here's yesterday!!!! ANGRY CHOCOLATE MILK RIVER!!!!!!!! The banks are heavily swollen. One of the small "islands" is gone because it's complete underwater. It is rushing and quite dangerous because of how fast the water's moving. Stuart and I watched it the first day from his bedroom window and saw two car tires float down along with several pieces of trash and large logs!! It's been quite crazy here with this rain... and today, we're supposed to have more!

Camping in the Rain Part 2

Here is part two of the camping in the rain. The leaks begin to get worse and life as we know is about to get wet!!

It's like the Old Days

Well, the rain has begun!

Last year, we used to say if it's not raining, it's snowing. If it's not snowing, it's foggy. If it's not foggy, it's cold. If it's not cold, then holy crap it's a sunny day!! Five out of seven days you can bet it was raining here in Cullowhee. For the three weeks I've been here the notorious downpour has been misplaced... until today!

I was drove into Sylva today to look at some art for the living room when the drizzle turned into a downpour. I couldn't see a thing through Little Honda's windshield. The car beside me had caused a wave of water to cascade over my car, it was raining heavily, and to make matters worse when I tried to make the windshield wipers go faster, I accidentally hit the cleaner button and had cleaner fluid spray all over my windshield!!!!

Then, when River and I came back to the apartment to hang out, a wall of rain hit us like a tennis racket smacking the poor tennis ball. The noise was deafening and scared us so badly we both cursed simultaneously. I nearly hit a car again that time as I suddenly couldn't see. It's like that moment when you crest a hill and the setting sun hits you directly in the eye as well as everyone else so they all slam on their brakes. That's the easiest way to get into a wreck, people! C'mon!

The rain lasted throughout the day, though stopped for a few short hours which coincided with the home opener football game (that I did not attend because I was doing more important things). Apparently, we were creamed in our second straight loss. Yes, nothing has changed at all. There's a reason why Western's tuition is so low!

There's been an entertaining, lovely lightning show playing outside, which is a rarity around here. Oh we get the rain alright but we usually miss out on the beautiful side of rain: thunderstorms! I love a good, calm thunderstorm to read or write to. Nothing gets my creative juices flowing like the sporadic extra wattage of light followed by the low grumble of thunder. Such majesty.

Even with the rain, which usually gets me into a fight with town of Cullowhee, it's been an enjoyable day! I purchased a cool hand painted white feather at a deco art/ice cream shop in Sylva. That was pretty sweet! And I got to hang with my awesome friends at Taco Bell where afterward I was challenged to a duel by Christian. Cody ran headfirst into his closet doors on purpose because he was that bored... this was after he beat himself with a wrench. Christian stole my cow-jumping-over-the-moon-patterned bathrobe and wore it around the apartment. He actually looked kind of good. That pastor in Florida didn't burn the Koran... that's a good thing! This day could have gotten seriously out of control around the world. And, I finished another chapter in my novel. That makes 23. I am pleased with the day's events.

So bring it on rain... you will not ruin my day!

Rain outside my apartment door