Fair-weather person

Aaack…woke up at 7 a.m. Seven in the morning, a whole hour later than my usual time to hop out of bed! I was aghast. Of course, with daylight savings time, it is still DARK at 7 a.m. And especially dark on this Tuesday morning, Pi Day, as another atmospheric river drenches us with buckets of water.

I was, to say the least, a bit grumbly when I threw off the covers and made my way down the hall to feed the cats, turning on lights as I went. Getting a late start, pouring rain, dark house…I had plans for early this morning as the weather forecast had called for the atmospheric river arriving late morning. The hope was to get to the grocery store before the deluge. We won’t starve if I don’t grocery shop today, but the pickings are getting thin around here. Heck, we can see the back wall of the refrigerator so you know it’s time to replenish the foodstuffs.

As you can tell, from the above paragraph, I am a fair-weather shopper. I’m a fair-weather anything now that I’m retired and don’t have to go out in the rain to get to my job. So, why go out in the rain for anything else! I will stay home, do laundry, and bake a pie since it’s March 14, pi day. Hopefully, tomorrow will be dry so that I don’t have to drive across town in a downpour to read to first graders. They aren’t my job, but they will be waiting for me to arrive with my bag of tricks.

More rain in the forecast means more floodwaters

We are drying out a bit today but more rain is forecast for late tonight and into Monday here in central California. The weather forecasters are saying that will be the end of the rain for awhile as there are no more atmospheric rivers coming our way. It would be nice. We really do need to dry out. Especially some of the towns to the north of us. The ground is soaked, more rains come, the rivers are cresting and overflowing, homes of hardworking people are being flooded.

It breaks my heart to see the stories of these folk. Their homes are inhabitable. There is no where for them to go. They are unable to get to their jobs to make the money they so desperately need. These are homes without flood insurance because it would cost about $3000 a year for such insurance, it they can find a company to write a policy. Right now, not even private insurance agencies are taking on new policies, and FEMA is not offering any for at least 30 days.

I am hopeful that a state like California will have the resources to help people caught in this crisis. But, we have been unable to solve the unhoused problem so what makes me think this tragedy will be cleared up and taken care of. So many who lost their homes to forest fires are still waiting for a place to live.

Every day I give thanks for our home and all of the advantages we have. I try to never take it for granted, because like these storms that have pounded us, anything can happen. We have no guarantees. Terry and I have talked about what we would do it we were told to prepare to evacuate as so many in California have been required to do. Where to go? What about our animals? What do we take?

I feel fortunate that we do sit on higher ground here, and our tiny plot of land slopes towards the street, and run-off has been going well, so far. After years of drought, it’s good to see the rain, but just how much can we take?