Farm auctions are popular around here. The auctioneer puts up a sign "Auction Today" and people flock to it, parking wherever they can. That's how it looked today at the site where a cabin wrecked in the flood was supposed to be torn down. It is in an awkward spot - across the river from the highway and no bridge.



There is no wide place next to the road for the removal trucks to park. Two weeks ago it was there, but last week the transportation department removed it because they thought it was narrowing the channel.

Speaking of channels, all the major Denver TV stations were represented:



It was really something to see the machine operator get that excavator down into the river - he sledded it down the rocks on the bank, braced by the bucket. It was scary to watch, but he knew what he was doing.

They decided they needed to install a temporary fence downstream from the project to stop any pieces of debris that might escape the loader. They
drove in the posts blind - just guessing what was a good spot.



The river level was increased starting yesterday, so the high water pressure complicated everything. That fence was not going to support itself, much less any pieces of a house or its contents.

Finally, the guy in charge postponed the operation for safety reasons: the hazard of having the guys try to install that fence in swift water; the cars going by were stopping dead in the traffic lane to take pictures; and there was no traffic control to steer traffic around the debris trucks.

So we all went home.