Alllll Aboard the Pineapple Express!

If it's not one thing, it's another. Remember that 27" of snow for Christmas? It managed to work it's way down to about 12", but was stubbornly lingering about. We were expecting things to warm up a bit and for some rain to come through starting this week. Tuesday night as Ed was getting ready for his early flight back to work Wednesday morning, the phone rings.. a recorded message:

"This is the Wahkiakum County Sheriffs Office with an emergency weather alert. Heavy rain accompanied by a high tide will create a flooding event beginning early Wednesday morning, continuing through Friday..." ...and on it went.

Our house sits up on a hill and is safe from rising water, but the creek at the base of our pasture can be a bit..um..active. Our elk-fenced garden is down there and the field is annually shrinking. I'll post some photos in a minute, but first a word from our sponsor.

Remember the building project? Well it's still going, just a little slower. Travel interruptions, holidays and plain cold weather have taken their toll. In spite of those things, Ed keeps plugging away every day he's home.

Plumbing is still the project. He's putting in pipe for the water heater and washing machine. Wahoo! Modern conveniences. I really hate taking laundry down to the creek..it's so hard to find just the right rock!

Obviously, the waste pipe is all black, but see that white tube stuff? Well that's the water supply pipe. Pipe isn't pipe anymore, it's super duper flexible plastic tubing. Who knew? We went through 100' of it like it was nothing.

Ed hands me this piece of tubing and a brass T thingie on the end, and he says "Next time you're in town, I need 100' more of the tubing and one of these Ts, 3/4"x3/4"."

"OK!" I nod like I know what I'm doing, and put the thing in my purse. I have a flash thought of when you're at the airport and the TSA guy asks you if any strangers gave you a package to transport. But I do, in fact know which place is the plumbing supply place, and I have all the pieces to wave at them, so I'm good to go....if I could go.

Which brings us back to the Pineapple Express. If the jet stream is going to bring in a storm from Hawai'i , the least it could do is smell like plumeria. Ed got up Wednesday morning at 0245 to drive to the airport and he says, "That storm's not too bad. There is still snow everywhere." I'm thinking, "Man, we dodged a bullet there!" Silly woman. By the time I got up at 0730, the foot deep remaining snow that covered every surface not scraped by machines was GONE. Melted. The creek was running like an elephant on steroids and it was full to the top. But wait, there's more! The real rain wasn't due until Wednesday afternoon into Thursday morning, with high tide at 10:00 am (this morning). I woke up this morning expecting serious disaster. It was bad enough, but it's livable. The creek here in the first picture has about a 12' high bank. I haven't gotten in the car yet to see how the neighbors lower down fared, or where the road is blocked.

When we put the garden fence up, the corner was about 40' from the edge of the creek..maybe more. We've been here three years, and we've had the 50 year flood, the 100 year flood, and now the 1000 year flood. That elk fencing was expensive and a lot of hard work. I'll guess we wind up moving, or at least adjusting the garden. I don't think the blueberry bushes are going to be very happy. Raspberries are much more laid back.

Ed, the barn picture is for you, since you're back at work. Sorry it's blurry. The barn is safe and secure. This was at 0730, and the water was starting to recede.

All told, we got about 8" of rain in 24 hours, plus melted a foot of snow. That'll keep things a little damp.

So tomorrow, assuming the road is clear, I'll drive into town to get some of that white water supply line stuff, and a couple of those brass T thingies.