Tuesday - In Every Life, A Little Rain Must Fall

[ninanevermore]

Today on my drive into work, I was thinking about yesterday's drive into work, all .3 miles of it that I made. It rained a little bit in the Houston area yesterday. According to the newspaper, it rained 10.71 inches in my area alone. Still, being a dedicated employee and (mostly) because I missed work on Friday because my son's daycare called to let me know he was sick (leaving work early on a Friday for a "sick child" and then wimping out on Monday for a little inclement weather makes me look like a super slacker), I decided to at least try.

I didn't even make it half a mile. My husband is in love with country living, so we live out in the country. In an urban area, most neighborhoods have more than one road leading in and out of them. For a rural subdivision off of a state highway, I guess I should feel lucky that the road leading out of my subdivision is at least paved.

There is a creek that runs through the middle of my subdivision. Somebody thought it would be a nice idea to dam the creek up so that it makes a wide, lake-like area adjacent to the neighborhood park. Normally, the bridge across the creek looks like this:



Yesterday morning, however, it looked like this:



I sat parked in the middle of the road, staring at the water rushing over it for a few minutes. High water is hard to gage just by looking at it. It's better to have someone in front of you brave the depths; if their car goes completely under, then you know that it isn't safe and you take another route. But I was the only one on the road.

I opened my door and saw that the water was about 4 inches lower than the door to my Elantra where I was parked at the edge of the torrents. I wasn't worried about the car getting submerged here (according to the morning paper, 4 people died in Houston from just that very thing yesterday), but more about it stalling out and me having to walk back home in the pouring rain with a wet, screaming toddler in my arms. Then there would be explaining to the insurance company what happened. I turned around and drove around the subdivision a bit to contemplate my options..

After a block or so, I spied an SUV pulling out of a driveway. Perfect. This car was 6 inches higher off of the ground than my car and had 4-wheel drive to get them out of any trouble. I would see how high the water came up on it and made a more-educated decision on my own odds of making it across. I followed the SUV toward the creek. The SUV didn't even drive as far into the water as I did. They stopped, turned around, and went home. I admitted defeat and followed suit.

Frankly, I think the SUV could have made it. But up the road another half mile there is a low point where, Jeff pointed out later, the water can get up to 3 or 4 feet high. Even if they (and I) had made it across the first flooded section, we would have had to turn back when we reached that portion of road.

As a result I got to enjoy an extra day off in addition to my weekend. Not that I could spend much of it on line. When I returned to my house, the electricity was off, and it would continue to cycle off and on for the rest of the day. Still, the quite time and quality time with my son was kind of nice. I got some projects accomplished around the house, and got to spend some time with Jeff (he has Mondays off). By the late afternoon, the rain had slowed down and the power came on and stayed on.

In the end, it was a great day for learning. Besides learning that I actually do have enough sense not to drive across a flooded road (but no so much sense that I won't at least consider it), I learned that a 5-inch rain gage isn't made to measure an entire 5 inches. After about 4 3/4 inches, every drop that falls in makes another drop of water jump back out (you can see this happening in the photo of my rain gage below). I'm thinking that for the Texas Gulf Coast, I need a rain gage that can measure at least a foot of rain. After all, we get hurricanes here, and 5 inches of rain isn't didly squat when it comes to a hurricane. Ask all of the former New Orleans residents now living here if that's not the case.

It never rains more that 4.75 inches in my yard


They say that everything is bigger in Texas; and I need a rain gage to reflect this attitude. I guess I’ll be searching or a real rain gage to replace the cutesy little useless thing that I have. What can I say? My husband bought this thing. I would have bought one less, you know, girly.




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Comments

[sidneymintz.livejournal.com]

Yay for rain days :)
I think we're having one today :(

I'm glad you didn't get submerged.

[neanahe.livejournal.com]

Stay dry!

They say it might rain here again later this week. Not good: the ground is already saturated, so it could mean more flooding.

On the other hand, I have a lot of vacation accrued. I might be using some of it, I guess.

[flickering-lite.livejournal.com]

hahahaha!
I love the little flower gage. it's just so....awwww. LOL

[neanahe.livejournal.com]

It's exactly the kind of stuff he buys. He is a much better chick than I am.

[artkouros.livejournal.com]

If you could have waited for a big ol truck, you could have gotten through in their wake. I do that sometimes.

[neanahe.livejournal.com]

Alas, I live in the boonies. No big-rig trucks (only pickups) come through my neck of the woods, but I've used that trick myself in the city.

[m-malcontent.livejournal.com]

Was pretty wet in East Houston...had an Audition cancelled in Pasadena because of incliment weather.

[neanahe.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it was pretty bad all over. You can always look forward to the shots of submerged cars on TV and in the papers on days like this. And more rain coming today. Oh joy. :P

[tribal-woman.livejournal.com]

"In the end, it was a great day for learning. Besides learning that I actually do have enough sense not to drive across a flooded road (but no so much sense that I won't at least consider it),"

Yes, but you made the right decision in the end. That counts! :D

The flower rain gauge is sweet and delicate a very nice gift from your husband...maybe you could just butch it up a little? Paint it purple? With little teeth? Just a thought...b;)

You do know I'm still recovering for illness right? just warning you...

[neanahe.livejournal.com]

It's a running joke with Jeff and I that he has more delicate, feminine taste than I do. The rain gage wasn't a gift to me; I'm not a big enough weather wienie to care. He bought it for himself because he is kind of a weather wienie and he thought the gage was pretty.

Before he found this one, he had the rain gage I picked up for him: a stick in the ground with a plastic tube that collected water. No fancy finish, no ornate, stylized fleur de lis. It didn't suit him at all. My bad.

Hope you feel better soon. :D

[whirring-mind.livejournal.com]

I am rather jealous of all those green and brown things framing your roads.

I love it when the weather is on my side. The best place to be really.

[neanahe.livejournal.com]

Houston is a great place to live if you happen to be a plant. The warm weather and the high humidity is custom-made for green things, provided they are heat tolerant. With all of the pines and live oaks, a lot of our trees stay green year round. It's kind of nice.

I would prefer the rain come at night and that the clouds blow away during my waking hours. Rain is a good thing, just not to much of it and not on my head.

[highlandwolf.livejournal.com]

Couldn't ya'll have let just a little more water come up here? We are still way short for the year...

Glad you had an extra day off!

[neanahe.livejournal.com]

You're short because we are getting all of your rain. There was a huge low pressure system over most of the state that kept all of the clouds coming in off of the Gulf stuck over the coastal plains. If I could figure out a way to send some it your way, I would. We've had plenty, thank you. :P

[manicmandi.livejournal.com]

They deided that Liberty County was a disaster area due to all the rain. I was soooo utterly lucky to be there for all of that! Happy Days!

[neanahe.livejournal.com]

Yikes! Yeah, Liberty Co. was not a good place to be that day. Poor you. :P

[manicmandi.livejournal.com]

Poor me INDEED! I got YELLED at by my step dad more than once while I was there. I suppose he felt bad about it after I left (FINALLY) cause he told my mom he had yelled at me and hoped thats not what caused me to leave. I was thinking I should go home eventually cause I do have a husband and child to take care of here. It wasnt like it was some vacation there. I had to cook, clean and feed animals. JUST LIKE being a kid and living at home again. Screw that mess. I was glad to get my car "fixed" and go home. Too bad the car isnt really fixed and I can get it to do what it does for ANYONE but me. That makes it harder to actually fix the issue. Ahhh well, I didnt waste the 238.84$ I spent on a new tie rod and new brakes......CHEEEEEAP!