RAIN, RAIN ... GO AWAY

I read an article this A.M. regarding one of the effects of the sever drought in Texas was many of the man-made lakes in Texas are drying up, exposing old towns & home sites, as well as long forgotten grave sites.  Where once there was 20-30 feet of water in a lake, now there is -- once again -- dry land.  Of course the "flooding" which produced these once water filled lakes & reservoirs, was a man-made effort.

I wish the rain produced flooding that is gripping Central Arkansas today -- & surrounding my home -- could somehow have fallen in Texas instead.  They sure need it.  We don't.

It started raining about one A.M. this morning.  HARD RAIN ... along with lots of thunder & lightning.  Since The Weather Channel & various computer web sites were providing "Flash Flood Warnings" for most of the state, I was not surprised to find standing water on my property as the first light of day arrived.  What DID surprise me was the AMOUNT of water I had.

I've lived here now for 15-plus years.  It's a low area, in an old flood plain of the Arkansas River.  My land has flooded many times; the worst was back in 1998.  For sheer volume of water & the amount of land under it, this may be the second worst case of flooding I've experienced.  And ... it's still raining !!

Above is the front driveway, with "Lake Hilda" -- a normal occurrence with heavy rains -- to the right, surrounding the tree.  What is NOT "normal" is the amount of water flowing across the driveway.

From the front porch, it is a sea of water & wet leaves.  I think there is even more water now, since I took the photo earlier this A.M.

The back of my property -- looking South, towards my storage building -- is in worse shape due to the overflowing of the drainage creek which intersects my land.  I'm not looking forward to finding out what damage may have been done inside the shed. [My John Deere is okay.  I checked it already.]

And finally, the creek normally can be seen just on the other side of the green Bamboo in this photo.  Now, the creek is my backyard.  And ... it's STILL RAINING !!!

Again ... I wish there were some way our friends in Texas could some how get some of this rain & water.  So close ... yet ... so far.

Rain, rain ... go away.  Get on down to Texas to stay.