My family and I are fine. I have a house on high ground and most of my friends are fine as well. One friend lives near the Puyallup River, but the levee held and so did the pump. We had Thanksgiving in North Bend which is in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains where my Maternal Aunt and Uncle live. I knew when I hugged my uncle and looked him in the eyes it would be the last time we would see each other, so I hugged him again. A week later he had a massive heart attack and died.
Yep, so I've lost two uncles this year. Both of my aunts live within an hour of me. I've been checking in with them, and my younger cousins regularly. I'm supposedly "the smart one" on both sides of the family. My Paternal and Maternal aunts were roommates for a year when they were in their 20s back when my parents were dating/married since they all went to the same high school. It's a silver lining that they have each other to lean on as well. I've got one uncle left in Texas. He's on the outs with his sister, so he had to hear it from me that his brother-in-law died. I'm not mending that through bridge, I just gave him the facts as they are. None of us need to hear his MAGA fanboy bullshit right now.
We had to cancel my shared birthday dinner with friends because the Cherry valley flooded between us and they became an island. Still, looking forward to a good dinner with them in January, so something to keep looking forward too. My birthday was nice, I can't complain.
I'm sorry First Nations, Sumas flooded again. Makes me grateful you left for Idaho when you did. B-ham wasn't without its problems either.
Pics from the Cherry Valley flooding, one of three big valleys in the Puget Sound that were flooded:
I am glad you are safe but I am so sorry to hear that you are having such a difficult time.
ReplyDeleteDespite everything you are going through you are still out there helping others.
Well done you; you are an inspiration.
Thank you! I don't know about being an inspiration, one must keep on keeping on as we say, our version of "Keep calm and carry on" I suppose. I can't do much about all the crazy going on at the federal level, but our communities were built on resilience.
DeleteGosh. What a mess. Keep your spirits up, and look after yourself as much as you do others, my dear! Jx
ReplyDeleteAnd now we just got notice to be aware that "toilet rats" might be a problem. LOL It's due to the flooding. It feels like such a 19th century problem to have. What can one do but laugh?
DeleteAnd to think, I thought the toilet rats really in Washington DC!
DeleteHahaha, Mistress Maddie! I wish!
DeleteYou keep on marching.
ReplyDeleteNevertheless, don't over do, please. We are some winters older now.
BTW, your son leaned to swim, yes ?
Altruism is a great power boost. It recharges my solar batteries. There is so much need that I can quietly slide into the background doing what I do best mostly unseen. There are only two people who know my name, because I'm working in a place with minors, someone had to do a proper background check. I've made myself an extension of another woman. She's the face, I'm a pair of invisible hands. She was already speaking in the third person of "we" so now "We" just have an extra working body. LOL, Millennials are weird, but I like them.
DeleteYes, my son is an excellent swimmer! It was non-negotiable. He takes to the water as well as I do. In my observation surviving floodwaters is less about strong swimming and more about keeping calm and look for opportunities to make your way out, though being one with the water spirits is definitely an advantage.
When I first heard about all this I was hoping that you were going to be all right and thank heavens you are. It's on its way to being an interesting Christmas isn't it? And don't get me started on the administration. Since he's been in office he has given very little support to any weather ravaged area, especially if they're in a blue state. Mind you the red states have had it worse and those dumbasses still support him. Yet he's given millions and millions to other countries, when people here could use the funds first. By the time he's out of office it's going to be like living in the third world country.
ReplyDeleteTrump's a Patsy! (and by that, I mean the West Coast slang meaning 'a scapegoat or red herring', not a gullible early Irish immigrant like in NY) How does PA use it? I've always wondered.
DeleteThis was a successful and well-played long game, by a small group of Federalist and Conservatives. The tech bros made for a great distraction.
And at some point Vlad climbed aboard.
DeleteMago, He was in the background all along waiting for opportunities to take advantage of them.
DeleteGovernments, globally, are rubbish at helping people in rural areas regarding everything. Keep safe, Melanie, and I admire you for the help you're providing.
ReplyDeleteSx
True Ms Scarlet, but these areas that flooded aren't truly rural in my mind because they are almost all connected by the main freeways that our whole economic engine depends on. Close to our main airport too! Which is the 12th busiest in the U.S. I think capitalism makes it hard to do meaningful large-scale social and environmental benefit projects when the people with the money only want to guard their own assets and these disasters just provide them with new business opportunity to exploit more people.
DeleteI have been thinnking of you ever since the rain began. I am so glad you and yours came out high and dry (stay high btw) but dear Lord - the news downplayed it! I men, your pictures are blowing me away! I'm familiar with that area and it's not as if it was under-developed bottomland by some rural river - like you said, it's near major cities and has well-developed infrastructure and services.
ReplyDeleteNow, as for Sumas? No need to be sorry! It was a little triggering for us, but that passed. After all, Sumas took all of its Obama-era infrastructure upgrade money and built a splash park with it instead of manitaining an already - decrepit and overgrown drainage plan. Then the first flood came, and the whole place turned into a fuckin' splash park. Four years of sitting on their butts and doing nothing later, all that flood debris just sitting and getting worse, and then wow man IT FLOODS AGAIN SURPRISE. They get no sympathy from me.
I'm impressed that you're out there fighting the good fight. You are amazing.
Happiest of New Years, chickie.
I think of you fairly often because you know, being from Spokane, the western half of Idaho feels like home to me too (but especially the panhandle.) There was a guy interviewed by Kiro7 news near Sumas who said more or less the same as you and he was very terse as he spoke. I thought he was gonna let loose at the end but he buttoned up instead. You could tell he wanted to say a whole lot more. What's your biggest threat now? Dust storms?
DeleteNow? Downbursts! Sideways tornadoes that last, at most, about 15 minutes. Here on ye olde quaternary alluvial deposits you don't need hail to do all the destruction - the rain, driven by the insane downbursts -shreds or flattens everything in its path. And it's a very localized phenomenon too...of course, we get the shitty end of the stick here between Fruitland and Payette (where the sudden bluffs and rimrock begin.) The warm Easterlies pick up weight off the Snake river, and the cut-up landscape all full of extreme temperature microclimates help generate that bullshit. Freaks me out. Just this sudden, temporary, destructive thing that happens without warning...GAAAAAH!!
ReplyDeleteI remember similar occurrences growing up in Spokane. Never know what the weather is going to be like on hills versus valleys.
DeleteHoly Smokes, sweetpea! I've been remiss about reading and here it is dmn near a month since you posted this. I am glad you're ok! For some reason I didn't realize you were in the PNW. You have a good heart, sister. Be well. xoxo
ReplyDeleteThank you, Savannah! No worries. It takes me damn near a month sometimes to come around and check on everyone else here in the blogosphere as well!
DeleteSure 'nuff does. POST SOMETHING FFS!!!!!
Delete