Inundated

Well, after complaining about the lack of true impact from last week’s hurricane, Mother Nature came back with a haymaker this week with the remnants of Hurricane Ida. It was fine up here on top of the hill where we only received 4-6 inches of rain. The same could not be said of New Jersey which got rocked with 10+ inches over a very short time. As we saw the weather reports building, we were concerned about my daughter’s family. Those concerns were well founded as she reported her street was virtually afloat. She was also dealing with a significant leak in the basement spaces Wingmom recently moved into.

Street Becomes River in front of Daughter's House

Notably Wingman was not present as he was out on Long Island saying goodbye to a moving friend. This is a trend my Favorite Daughter has had to deal with since an early age. We lived in Kansas a couple times during my military career. The second assignment had me sent on multiple deployments away from home for weeks at a time. Kansas, as you might have heard, is prone to tornadoes. Invariably when one of the multiple tornadoes warnings went off I was away and this seemed to have a particular effect on my daughter who was not pleased with me or the Army at the time. Anyways, as Wingman vainly tried to make his way home, my daughter dealt with the leak in a couple of innovative ways, including drilling a hole in a wastebasket to direct the water into the French drains.

Neighbor had a Tree Down in their Front Yard

Those French drains, installed a couple years ago by Wingman, saved the day in their basement. They used to get regular standing water there until they were installed. Hurricane Ida remnants has to rank as the acid test for the system and it handled the problem nicely. This storm will be remembered as the Maplewood Flood though as many of my daughter’s friends had significant damage with flooded basements and one even their entire first floor. I was heartened when many friends contacted me to insure my daughter and her family were well. I was talking about the flood with the FBR this morning and when I told her that we didn’t have any problems with flooding, she replied, “well of course, grandpa, you live on a hill.” The kid is nothing if not sharp. My neighbors joined me yesterday with the partial driveway loss as that infernal machine was back at work. Two of them had driveways even newer than mine.

River Subsided in Early Morning Hours

I had a busy day yesterday as I stopped by my old offices to wish Keene Friend congratulations as he is retiring from his job there. His last day is today. It was a short touch and go for me because I had to be in Brockton, across the state, for another meeting, a little over an hour later. The GPS, system informed me, in its usual haughty manner, that I would be ten minutes late as I set out. With that as motivation I engineered my own route, knowing the Mass Pike would be a mess on Thursday and made it to Brockton five minutes before the meeting. A few speed regulations might have been stretched in my efforts but in my defense I had a few cars passing me like I was standing still. Always good to have sacrificial lambs out in front for hungry state police speed traps.

In other weather related news, I returned home late in the afternoon of a beautiful summer day with temperatures in the mid-70s. I was therefore a little surprised to find all the windows closed and the living room fireplace fully ablaze. I had my answer when I walked into the living room and found my mother-in-law all bundled up. While 70’s is nice for us this tropical lady was challenged with temperatures twenty degrees below her normal. She’ll be with us through October, so I cheerfully told her to enjoy the warm weather now. I think she would have thrown something at me if she was anything like her daughter, my Favorite Panamanian.

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RECURRING CHARACTERS                                            

BR3 – granddaughter #3, BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter, ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete = my daughter in law; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Soxfather - my brother in law; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; Kindergarten Friend – friend since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; Pittsburgh College Roommate– high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd musquetera (musketeer); Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog; PanaGals – female relatives /friends of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife accumulates wherever we have lived & their spouses; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member, Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during her single days in Brooklyn