I swear, I don’t think it’s ever going to quit raining. I cannot believe how hard and constant the rain has been over the past 36 hours. Of course, hard and/or large amounts of rain always raise concern at Casa Del Rapin because of the “serene” creek that turns into the beast that once flooded our basement. Last July, we had a really big scare when we got 4.5 inches of rain in 7 hours–we thought we lost all the bushes and the garden we planted on the other side of the creek, not to mention that the flood waters neared our basement yet once again. The creek that is normally about 4 inches deep and 5 feet wide turned into a 30 foot wide, 3 foot deep wall of water that brought me to tears as it neared my walkout basement sliding door.
So, when the rain began yesterday, I naturally wondered if this rain event would pass by without incident. OF COURSE NOT!!!! What kind of idiot am I?!
As the rain poured down yesterday, I kept a watchful eye on the creek. Ben, of course, is up north building some sort of man cave for hunting–I always seem to be alone when weather crises arise. The creek did get quite full, but it was not topping the banks nor was it hitting the bridge Ben built across the creek so he could easily access the garden. I knew it was going to rain overnight, but when I put Bailey out around 11pm, the creek was under control and flowing very well, so I went to bed feeling alright about the whole situation. After all, we only received 2.12 inches of rain yesterday–nothing like the 4.5″ in July.
I awoke around 8am this morning and decided I’d put Bailey out, feed both he and Lucy, and go back to bed for some prime rainy weather extended sleep. From the top floor of the house, I looked at the creek and was surprised. The water levels were fairly low, but I could see from the smashing of the weeds around the banks that the water had gotten very high overnight–high enough to be flowing on the other side of the creek. Eek! I went downstairs, put Bailey out, and put on my crocs to survey the creek. That’s when I realized that something looked wrong–something was missing. I realized it almost instantly–our bridge was gone! Ben built this bridge to be very solid–2×6 planks and braces, it was at least 6 feet long and heavy as a bear. I ran to the edge of the creek to see if it was stuck somewhere down the creek, but as far as I could see, it was not visible. Since the yards downstream turn and twist, I couldn’t see far. I went back inside and feeling a sense of urgency (I didn’t want it blocking water downstream!), I quickly threw on my clothes, pulled my nasty hair back, ditched my glasses and grabbed a waterproof coat–because of course it’s still raining–and decided to walk down a few houses and look in their backyards.
I must’ve been a sight, I’m sure, and people probably thought I was crazy as I walked through their yards looking for a 6 foot bridge. I knew that even if I found it, I wouldn’t be able to move it until Ben got home, but I also knew Ben was going to have a COW that it was gone so I wanted a location at least where it was. I walked down to the house with the culvert, thinking it wasn’t likely that it could get past that. I didn’t see it anywhere, so I decided I better walk the creek back to our house and check the wooded areas to look for it there. Two of the houses between our home and the culvert have fenced backyards, so I knew it could only be in the woods. Praying no one was watching, I hopped into the creek and began walking upstream toward our yard. I wore my crocs, thank God, because the creek was a murky, muddy, rocky mess of brown water. I forced myself not to think of snakes or leeches or anything else that could be in the water and carefully proceeded forward. The water at it’s highest was only below my knees, so I felt comfortable walking. I carefully waded back to our house to no avail. Where in the world was that stinkin’ bridge???
I should stop here and say that in July, Ben had the foresight to pull the bridge out of the water and tie it to a tree in our yard. We have never lost the bridge before, and since this mishap was on my watch, I knew the first thing Ben was going to say to me was, “Why didn’t you pull it out of the creek???” I honestly don’t think I could’ve done it by myself it’s so heavy, but I guess I could’ve called my friends Kim and Robyn and they would’ve helped me. So, you can now see that my reputation as a thinking woman is at stake and it is driving me to continue to look for this damn bridge despite the rain.
Thinking I might have missed some clue (what, I don’t know), I walked back downstream to the culvert. No bridge. As I walked, the woman who lives at the culvert house came out and asked me what I was looking for. I explained the situation and we both pondered it a bit–there is a grate on the culvert (the culvert has a diameter of at least 4 feet) so even though the bridge could’ve fit through the culvert, it couldn’t have gotten through the grate. We both concluded that it must be in the woods, we exchanged names (she is Adele), and I walked back AGAIN to my house via the creek. I did not fall in, which is amazing, considering how slippery and wet it was and what a total klutz I am in life.
I resigned to the fact that Ben would just have to help me look when he got home. I would just grin and bear the anger and disappointment he’d inevitably express when I told him his precious bridge was gone. About 30 minutes later, the doorbell rang and Adele was at my door. She had found our bridge!!! She had gone down past her house and found it in a neighbor’s yard, about seven houses further downstream from our own home. She told me that she had learned after we talked that the grate that covers the culvert does open–inward, so our little bridge sailed right through and cruised further downstream. I now know where our bridge is, so I’m waiting for Ben to get home so we can drag it back–there is NO WAY I could move it that far without some help.
Sadly, she also told me that the house where our bridge is has a flooded basement–about 2 inches of standing water. Adele told me that their basement flooded due to some drainage problem they have, there’s nothing they can do about it. I almost cried for them. It sounds so crazy even when I say it, but our basement flood was one of the most devastating things that have ever happened to me, and I feel like I have experienced a fair amount of devastation in my life thus far. It literally makes me nauseous and panicky to even think about it happening again–to see things you’ve worked SO hard to save for and buy just floating or covered with dirty mud water is not a moment you can ever prepare for. It certainly makes me feel for those struck by other natural disasters; there’s simply nothing you can do to prevent it from happening.
We will have to make some decisions about what to do in the future with the bridge over troubled water. I am not adding creek walking to my exercise regiment anytime soon–my neighbors must think I’m a total whack job. I have had more than my fair share of bizarre experiences in life, I do not need to go looking for them! (Ever had a squirrel clog your toilet? Ever dumped a gallon of paint on yourself in a paint store? Yep! That’d be me!)