Working my way back to reality

Saturday the water started receding-lucky thing, as cabin fever had begun to set in.  While I enjoy being flooded in for the excuse it gives me for going nowhere, the majority of my neighbors enjoy it for the opportunity it gives them to start drinking at 9 in the morning.  They all sat up under the Shingle Mill all day drinking beer, and Elaine and Dave, my next door neighbors, were up there with them.  I knew as soon as I saw them up there drinking that there would be fighting before the day was done.

I slogged up to the truck and drove to Gulfport to get Alex from Mom's and came back to the house to watch the video that came in the mail-him appearing in The Pirates of Penzance and then we decided to go out for dinner to L.Y.'s buffet, our favorite chinese restaurant.  If given a choice of anywhere to eat, usually that is our pick.  There is such a variety that you can eat there every day for a week and never eat the same thing twice if you are so inclined.  The food is always fresh, and Alex likes the "hot asian chicks" who work there.  They know what we drink and where we like to sit.  There is also what we like to call "the L.Y. effect".  If you've been bound up for a day or two, go to L.Y.  It doesn't make us sick, but within 30 minutes of eating there, both of us need to use the bathroom.  Cleans ya right out!  Anyway, we were sitting there eating when Alex perked up and said "I've heard this song before."  It then occurred to me that we eat there so often that I am learning the lyrics to the songs on their sound system-and they are in Chinese!

I had to come straight home from dinner as I had to get back while it was still light enough to wade-I'll walk in water up to my tender bits, but NOT in the dark.  Sure as shit, as soon as I hit the deck I heard "Love?  You womanizing sonofabitch!  You wouldn't know love if it..."  I got inside as quickly as possible as I have been privy to way too many of their fights-last time it ended with Dave getting hit in the head with a 2x4 and he walked around looking like Bart Simpson for a few weeks til the swelling went down.  No wonder Johnny is hesitant about having them keep the birds while we travel.

Oooh.  Travel.  I also bought my ticket to Dover for next week, so that IS going to happen, one way or another.  The Atlantic looks pretty quiet, so maybe I can take a trip and not have to worry about a hurricane while I'm gone.  Now I'm debating whether to stay with the kids or at the Dover Downs Casino Hotel.  I know what I want to do, but I also know what I'll probably do, and yes, they are two entirely different things.  Although I do have permission should I choose to exercise it.

Now, I am praying for rain.  Everything outside is covered in a layer of silt since it has been under river water for the last week, and I am dreading opening the shed.  In Katrina, its styrofoam pads came off, so it has been sitting in the water all week, along with everything in it.  It also lost its floor, so Johnny laid particle board (that was supposed to cover the windows) over the studs, kind of overlappy, and not nailed down.  I'm sure that is going to be nice and sturdy...NOT.  I did hang everything up, so my little electric mower (think bubble mower) should be okay, but there were alot of ice chests and paint cans and such that are probably all in a jumble in there now, and they are all covered in silt too, and will have to be hosed off.  There is a wooden pallet that sits as a step in front of the shed, and it is rotting through.  All in all, I think I have a recipe for disaster.  It is not a matter of if I get hurt, more a matter of can I get anything accomplished before I get hurt.

Live from the Ark

How high's the water, mama?  

At the moment it appears to be hoochie high and risin'.  It is as high as I've seen it since Katrina.  I never completely lost power yesterday.  It turned out to be a rather loverly day-very windy and other than the one feeder band that hit yesterday morning, we didn't get anymore rain until late in the night, by which time I'd already gone to bed.  I waded through thigh deep water yesterday to take the truck further up the road, as we had an idea that it was going to go higher, and also to go purchase some big girl beverages since I knew I'd sleep better lubricated.  I really did, too-a few beers and the boat rocking me to sleep were just the ticket.  Slept like a baby.

Now I'm faced with the grim reality of the situation though-the water is higher than cellphone deep, so I really don't want to wade out of here.  Even if I take the little boat I am going to have to tie off somewhere and wade out and up the road to get to the truck, then I have to tote back through the water anything I purchase which is no easy feat what with trying to balance against the current and the wind and still keep said purchases above the water and dry.  I don't think I'm going to brave it today, but I sure hope it goes down some by tomorrow, cuz Miss Jackie is down to two rolls of tp, and we can't be having that now, can we?

Meantime, it's actually quite nice being flooded in.  I still have power, the pump is still working, after a brief period of no pressure yesterday evening, and the internet has amazingly held its connection all day today.  I have food and bottled water, so I am good to go for a few days, as long as I ration the tp.  I have a neighbor by the house who will feed the cats, coons, aardvarks and hedgehogs, and if anyone wants to steal the bills from the mailbox, knock yourself out!  Now if I just hadn't drank all the beer...

Flooded in. Again.

Oh shit oh dear.

I was awakened at 7:30 this morning to my neighbor informing me that I'd better get up and get my truck out of here.  I looked out the window and saw that the river is flooding again, and my driveway and planters were already completely underwater.  Dammit janet, when is this gonna end?  I thought I had already declared my hurricane season to be over?  I put my boots on and drove up to high ground and waded back here to the houseboat wondering if I should have put the birds in the truck and just gone to the house.  Now it's too late, unless I slog through water up past my knees carrying bird cages and my computer.  To add to my dilemma, I went outside a few minutes ago and noticed that my southernmost stanchion looks like it is collapsing toward the bank.  My neighbor is trying to brace it up, and I am tied off to seven or eight trees/other stanchions, so I'm not too worried about it, but I made the mistake of emailing Johnny about it, so now he is going to worry about it until he gets home.  Sneaky passive aggressive move, if I'm being honest.  Share the suffering.  *snort*

Anyone know a good bird sitter?  I need someone willing to come stay at the houseboat so I can go see Ronny and Jamie in Dover next week.  The birds require about an hour of actual care a day, and provide hours of entertainment, what with talking about boogers and such.  Perfect setting for artistic types-I wish I could paint, because it truly is beautiful out here.  And having the Shingle Mill 400 feet from the front door doesn't hurt either.  Beer, birds, boating...any takers?

Uckfay emay.  I heard a motor so I went outside to see what it was and it was a tractor pulling cars and trucks out of the other end of the parking lot.  I decided maybe I ought to go move the truck out of the parking lot and up the road a bit, but before I could get my boots on, a feederband started letting loose on us and drove me back inside.  Now the wind is blowing like a son of a bitch and the boat is pitching around and I'm beginning to feel rather Dorothy-ish.  This bites, and we are only under a tropical storm warning (which I was not aware of when I went to bed last night-as I said, I had already declared my hurricane season over so I was not watching the farging weather channel 24/7 anymore).  Now the power is flickering, so I am going to post this before it goes out completely and I'm without internet.  Thank God for my Iphone.  At least I hope it will work.  Of course I'm new at this, so I don't know how to update from my phone, but at least I should be able to look at weather reports, etc.  Again, I hope!