Water, Water Everywhere. . . .(nor any drop to drink)

I suppose you could drink it out of the ditch in someone's front yard if you really wanted to though, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it. That phrase is just something that has come to mind a lot lately as I have watched the streets and yards and ditches and fields overflowing with water. That phrase is actually a line from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge and is uttered by a sailor adrift on the open ocean without any fresh water to drink. Don't be too impressed. I googled it.

As 8 inches of snow melted this week, about 4-6 inches of rain has also fallen in our area to make for one very wet mess. I was talking to a good friend at our church’s pancake supper last night, and she was lamenting about the six inches of water they had standing in their basement. Chris and I examined our basement carefully last night, but thankfully, found a dry basement and one very active sump pump. One of the former owners of our house had a basement dry system installed, and if it can stand up to the water we have had this week, I am confident it can stand up to anything. That is such a relief because we live in a lower floodplain area anyway, and I have recently watched as my good friend Kristin and her husband Dan, have gone through a wet basement saga that would drive even the most austere teetotaler to drink.

The weather lately has been strange indeed. Last week, we had so much snow that schools were closed. This past Monday, it was 60 degrees, and we had the foggiest day that I can ever remember in my life. It was foggy as we went to work, and even worse as I drove home that evening in the dark. Visibility was maybe a few hundred feet at times. Roads that I have traveled hundreds of times were foreign and distance was extremely difficult to judge. When I got home that evening, I felt like my eyes were bugging out of my head. This week we have also had several thunderstorms with lots of lightening and tons of rain. Today, it rains for awhile, then when we look outside ten minutes later, it’s snowing.

I think I am beginning to understand Mark Twain’s quote a little better (I am sure he could have said the same for Illinois:)

"If you don't like the weather in New England, just wait a few minutes."

-Mark Twain