Floods, tornadoes and more floods - oh my!

I'm not making light of the weather-related devastation that has been happening in our area lately, but I also haven't been able to force myself to write about such a serious subject.  I have a tendency to entertain myself - and hopefully you, too - by writing about the goofy stuff, but a couple of things caught my attention and I think they should be shared.

First was this article written by a doctor who was on duty at St. John's Regional Medical Center in Joplin, MO on May 22, 2011 when the city was ravaged by a tornado.  It's so easy to read about tragedies in the news and consign them to the "oh that's too bad" pile - that place where we store stuff that we know is tragic, but doesn't directly touch our lives.  You won't be able to do that any more after reading this doctor's story.  It makes the Joplin tornado very real.

Secondly, I was fascinated by the tales of floods.  At first, as embarrassing as it is to admit, it was just an outside curiosity - "Hmmmm.  I wonder what that would be like."  But then I began reading the personal flood story of Marie at Daisy's Book Journal.  Marie's beautiful home in Manitoba has become an island, accessible only by boat or hip-waders. As I read her stories of measuring the rise/fall of water in her backyard, sump pumps, generators, ruined septic tanks and faulty electrical lines, watching forces totally out of her control take over her life, "those people" who are affected by the floods had a face and a name.  

Picture courtesy of www.weatherundergound.com

Since we now live about fifteen miles, as the crow flies (why a crow?  Isn't it the same distance for any bird?) from the Missouri River, I have been paying attention to the flooding up-river and the predictions for our area within the next week.  Saturday evening we took a drive through several communities along the river's edge that are preparing for the onslaught.  A grain elevator at Phelps City, Missouri is surrounded by a 12' earth berm.  Homes and businesses in Big Lake, Missouri have been completely emptied.  Farmers are scrambling to move grain out of storage bins before it is ruined by flood waters.   These are our new neighbors.  Though I don't know them personally, seeing the incredible amount of work they have put in to protect their homes, businesses and livelihoods made it so much more "real" than a newspaper or TV story.

But now what?  At this point, I have no clue how to help any of these people.  I have extended comfort through prayers, but some situations require a more hands-on approach. If you read a post I wrote last November concerning our own small tragedy, you may remember that the people we appreciated in that moment were not the ones who offered platitudes or even prayers - but those who "picked up bricks".  How do I pick up bricks for any of these victims?

There are many wonderful organizations - including our favorite, the American Red Cross - who are offering support to those affected by natural disasters.  I know my financial contributions help make that possible and I'm glad to give.  But is there more?  If you are, or have ever been, one of those affected in this way, what did you need most in a one-on-one way?  We can't replace your home, or pay all your bills while your business is rebuilding.  We can't heal your injuries or resurrect the memories that blew away.  But is there a way two people can make a difference?  How can we "pick up your bricks"?

Update: Within the past few hours, several levees have breached and produced flash-flooding in our area.  While our home is not even close to danger, some of our co-workers and neighbors (not to mention hundreds or thousands of total strangers) are facing huge losses in the next few hours/days... and I'm still at a loss for how to help.

Pay It Forward Award

Thanks to Donna at The House on the Corner for giving us this beautiful award.  Donna blogs from her home (on the corner, presumably) in Texas, and includes a wide variety of topics including her family, her faith and her adorable new grandson.  Stop by and have a look around.  Also check out the other winners:

Debby @ Just Breathe

Joyce @ From This Side of the Pond

Hilary @ Feeling Beachie

Beverly @ The Beverly Buzz

Allyn Marie @ With Faith, Family, and Friends
Cheri @ Cheri's Chatter

The Secret Life of Damian Spinelli by Carolyn Hennesy

From the deck of the Smilin' Lila to the halls of General Hospital, from the Case of the Vamping Valkyrie to the Case of the Contrived Contralto, here are Spinelli's tales of intrigue, kidnapping, murder, and more. The office of Spinelli/McCall, P.I., has never been busier. Spinelli may be a gumshoe like no other, but he will save, defend, and protect the citizens of Port Charles until the bitter end!

General Hospital fans are familiar with the imaginary exploits of the Jackal.  Also known as Damian Spinelli, the gangly, awkward computer genius fancies himself a private eye in the tradition of Sam Spade or Mike Hammer.  At any random moment, he fades into daydreams of himself as the hero, saving the damsel (or would that be "broad"?).  The publication of this collection of his fanciful escapades was part of the storyline on the show and then was released in the "real world".  

I have been a GH fan for about thirty years.  In fact, I can't remember exactly when I started watching, but I know it was before we got married in 1982.  While I love the character of Spinelli, these daydream sequences have not really been my cup of tea (cup of joe?).  I'm not sure what made me think I would like them more in print.  This collection holds some appeal to hard-core General Hospital fans and is, at points, quite funny.  I get that these are Spinelli's over-the-top fantasies, but at times they take the familiar characters so far outside their usual personalities that it becomes annoying.  For someone with no background on the characters, it would make no sense at all.

While I can't give this book my full recommendation, GH followers - and especially Spinelli groupies - will get a chuckle and some extra time with their favorite Port Charles-ites.  

...but give me Park Avenue!

For every laugh there is a tear, for every up there is a down, for every sunny day there is a storm cloud.... It follows that for all the peaceful evenings and beautiful blooms on Green Acres there would have to be a negative.  But does it HAVE to be snakes?  How about plagues of locusts?  Landslides?  Being forced to watch reality TV?  Just NOT snakes!  

The first sighting was reported by the air-conditioning fix-it guy.  He began with, "I don't know how you feel about snakes..."  This isn't going to be good!  He found one on the back patio (yes, not more than 10' from the door and right where I walk to get to the clothes line).  It was "only" a garter snake and it had captured a toad.  The encounter wasn't ending well for either creature - evidently garter snakes are stupid and don't realize they can't swallow an entire toad - so one was choking and one was just dead.  Dave disposed of this one by carrying it down to the pond and leaving nature to take it's course.  

The second sighting was in the garden - another garter snake even smaller than the first.  Dave disposed of this one by heaving it as far as possible into the cattle pasture.  I did at least recognize the futility of killing off the garter snake population one by one.  But last night was a whole new deal.

Molly, our Springer Spaniel, was dancing around one of the lilac bushes like it was a Maypole.  Bark, bark, bark....run, run, run...dig, dig....wiggle, wiggle...JUMP!...repeat.  Since she was too engrossed to answer when called or come to the house, Dave went to investigate.   Expecting to find a squirrel or, more likely, nothing at all, Dave parted branches and stuck his head into the center of the bush.  The conversation went something like this:

Dave:  Oh, I see.  It's a snake.  (Just calm as can be, like "Oh look, a butterfly".)

Me:  How big?  (The only rational response to "It's a snake.")

Dave:  You don't want to see.  Do you want me to catch it?

Me:  Catch it, my ass!  Shoot it!!!!!!!

Dave:  Oh, ok.

And yes, dear wildlife lover, he shot it.  I know, I know - it was a harmless rat snake.  Well, harmless unless you're a rat.  But there are certain rules that apply to snakes near my house and rule no. 1 is "Stay the hell away from my house!"  You understand that this snake was in a lilac bush from which I cut blooms, around which I mow, past which I walk to get to the mail box.  This is not acceptable living or lounging space for snakes.  I left the snake's head in the snake bed as a warning to future reptiles who might dare to enter the Godmother's territory.

In the light of a new morning, with the flowers glistening after a rain shower and the first hummingbird sighted at the feeder, I have decided to remain at Green Acres.  Now you'll have to excuse me, I'm headed to town to buy hip-waders so I can retrieve the mail.

And the Blooms Just Keep on Coming...

More things are blooming here on Green Acres and, once again, I find myself clueless.  As I was maneuvering the lawn mower through the overgrown ditch, I discovered this beauty atop a fence post.

It has grown up the fence post and then tangled amongst itself to make a ball of flowers.  I was sure there had to be a flowerpot under there somewhere, but it is completely supporting itself by winding around it's own stems.  I believe I can identify this as clematis - but feel free to tell me if I'm wrong.  And how do I go about getting a start from this plant? Collect seeds?  Take a cutting?  I would really like to have it growing on the trellis by the house.

And the peonies are here.  We knew there was a bush with white blooms in the front yard, but I discovered three more out by the road near the clematis.  They were buried among weeds that hadn't been trimmed for who-knows-how-long, but once Dave cleared away the junk, we had beautiful light and dark pink varieties.

Next, this scraggly looking bush that I had actually wanted Dave to remove, began blooming in the most amazing shade of neon pink.  And, lo and behold, as Dave continued clearing brush and dead trees, we discovered it comes in a white variety also. Anyone have an idea?

Then there is this huge bed of what we assume to be some variety of hydrangeas??  The blooms are a rather unimpressive green/yellow at this point.  I read somewhere that the bloom color can be influenced by the acidity of the soil.  Anyone able to verify this?

Coming soon:  Tons and tons of lilies, at least some of which are bright orange.  We'll keep you posted.

FLASHbacks

The fireflies o'er the meadow, in pulses come and go. - "Midnight" by James Russell Lowell

We were sitting in the front yard last night, enjoying one of the few remaining pleasant evenings before the summer heat and mosquitoes hit - and watching the lightning bugs.  I felt 8-years-old again...except for the aching joints and stiff muscles.  Fireflies, or lightning bugs as we called them in central Kansas, conjure memories of running through my grandparents' yard, catching bugs in jars, and giggling with my sisters and cousins.  Don't know why I have no memory of chasing fireflies in my own yard, which was just across the street.  Maybe there was just more open space at Grandma's.  Having lived the majority of my adult life in the dryer parts of Kansas, Nebraska and Colorado, I had nearly forgotten about the twinkling fairy lights that lit my childhood summers.

Now that you have a magical picture of little girls in pink summer dresses with flower wreaths in their hair, skipping through meadows of wildflowers...we used to pull the lights off the fireflies and use them for jewelry.  Those little bug-butts were sticky (can't imagine why after being dismembered) and made beautiful rings and bracelets for miniature mutilators.

Were fireflies a part of your childhood?  Do you have them where you live?  What else brings back memories of summer for you?  For me it's playing in the sprinkler, bikes, games of hop-scotch drawn with "chalk rock", and lots of time to read.

While you're pondering you're childhood memories, ponder these fun facts about fireflies:

• Fireflies need standing water -  heat and humidity. 
• In the U.S., almost no species of fireflies are found west of Kansas—although there are also warm and humid areas to the west. Nobody is sure why this is.
• Fireflies also love long grass. Long grass conceals the fireflies better and allows them a better vantage point for signaling at night, and over-mowing your lawn may disturb your firefly population.
• A light bulb in your home can only use 10% of the energy that goes through it to produce light, the rest is turned into heat. 90% of a lightning bug's energy is used to create light. 
• Fireflies/lightning bugs are neither flies nor bugs - they are beetles.
• Adult fireflies (after the larvae and pupae stages) live only three months.
• The Lightning Bug contains luciferin and luciferase, two rare chemicals used in research on cancer, multiple sclerosis, cystic fibrosis and heart disease.
• The larvae of most species are specialized predators and feed on other insect larvae, snails and slugs, so they are beneficial to gardens.

I have some good news ...

Doctor:  I have some good news and I have some bad news.
Patient:  What's the good news?
Doctor:  Your tests showed that you have 24 hours to live.
Patient:  That's the good news?  What's the bad news?
Doctor:  I forgot to call you yesterday.

[drums: ba-dum-bum-ching]

It's an old joke, I know, but appropriate today because I have some good news and some bad news.  First the good news:  I got a job.  Now the bad news:  I got a job.

This is good news because it means a little extra money to help pay for college, it gets me off of Green Acres and into the real world where I can interact with others (hermit-age nearly to the point of agoraphobia can easily become an issue for me), and it's only part-time so I can still sew, read, visit children, etc.

This is bad news because I have to leave Green Acres and venture into the real world, which has scheduled hours and dress codes.  If you will recall, my last job was a dream job - library, books, flexible hours, book shopping, working basically unsupervised, book discussions, and books -- I'm still in mourning.  My hours were 9:00 to 5:00, but if I showed up at 9:15 no one cared as long as my work got done. Taking lunch at 2:30 so I can get my hair colored?  No problem.  The dress code was pretty flexible as well - my summer work wardrobe consisted of capri-length pants, simple blouses and sandals.  The new job requires "business casual", which means no capris, no jeans, no sandals that are not "affixed to the foot".  In other words - new wardrobe!  I went clothes shopping yesterday, which ended in tears - not an unusual reaction when I meet up with a three-way mirror.  

Lest this become one of those stories where an employee gets fired for posting something negative about their employer - there's nothing wrong with dressing professionally and keeping regular business hours.  It's just been a long time since I did.

However, I think I can handle returning to the world of rules and propriety.  After all, one of the questions I was asked at the interview concerned my "career goals" and I DIDN'T say "I'm 50-years-old and applying for a part-time reception position for which I am waaaaaaay over-qualified.  Do I LOOK like I have career goals?"