I always worry about "The Girls". I know they are getting good care at the Vet where I take them, but I still wish there were some other way for them to be safe & sound -- & well fed -- while I am away. I always look forward to getting them back home.
I get concerns about the weather when I am in Florida at Christmas. Not the weather there, but what the conditions are in the rest of the U.S. I guess I am always fearful I will not be able to get home as planned, I'll miss a flight connection or that I'll be stuck in some strange airport due to weather.
In 2000, while flying back to Little Rock, I got stuck in Atlanta, due to the ice storm in Arkansas. They didn't want to do it, but I finally convinced Delta Airlines to fly me to Memphis, where I could stay, until the airport in Little Rock was re-opened. That took an additional two days.
This year at Christmas week, there was a MAJOR set of storms working their way across the U.S. I was trying NOT to watch The Weather Channel. I didn't want to get all hyper & concerned with their reports on the terrible conditions the travelers were facing. Of course they certainly had my attention with reports the state of Oklahoma was shut down with record snow. Check the map !! That's the next state West of Arkansas.
By Christmas Eve, all the news programs were reporting on the horrible weather. My alert level was at "Def Con 4" when the reports came in of Central Arkansas getting 5-9 inches of rain !!
I phoned my neighbor in Arkansas. His news was worse than the TV. We actually had 10 inches of rain. All the area where we live was flooded, as he reported "... the worst I have ever seen."
Well, luckily for me, my flights coming home were fine & right on time. Flying over from Memphis, I was able from my window seat to see all the flooded farm fields, rivers & homes. Now I was worried my route home from the airport would be blocked. Faulkner Lake Road had been flooded & closed two times already in 2009.
I had to drive -- carefully & slowly -- through high water as I feared. It's a creepy feeling & one never feels safe in doing so.
Then, I had to drive through it again the next morning, "TWICED" (Inside Joke) to go to the Vet to get my cats. I HAD TO GET MY CATS !!
The road, looking West, still with water flowing over it, two days after I got home on Christmas Day.
To the East, where the same creek meanders back again, the flooding was worse & the water was deeper & wider. It looks as if a car stalled from trying to make it through the water.
For all my worries, the flooding on my property had receded quickly. Water had gotten into my storage building, but it appears it resulted in little damage. Still, I have a good amount of yard clean up ahead of me.
Once again, I have been lucky. Many places in Arkansas experienced far worse flooding than where I live. I had three reasons to be grateful: my house was high & dry, I got home on time, safe & sound & My Girls did too.
As my Mother always says -- "Everything comes in three's."
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