One of the neighbors came over today to show me his 1976 flood pictures. Many of the sights are the same for both floods.

He's one of those people who is so self-centered he can't stand to talk about anything but himself.

Once we got through his pictures and his story (for the hundredth time) about how his neighbors broke into his house, and what his flood damage was, we tried to talk about other peoples' experiences and flood damage up and down the canyon. But he had to top every story: if they lost a tree, he lost two trees; if they lost their pump, his lost pump was bigger and better and more lost than theirs.

He also takes personal credit for our Congress people getting additional federal funds for flood recovery because stopped by their offices and talked to staff members when he was in Washington DC for some National Guard thing. I seriously doubt it was all due to him, but let him bask in the glow.

The only reason I put up with him is he has a good memory for history in the area, and in between his personal stories, I am able to gather some crumbs of information. The reason it matters is there are people who need to prove to the county that they had a campground or a certain structure on their property prior to the 1976 flood in order to be able to restore or replace them after this flood. We have a Facebook page for our area, and they'll put out an appeal for old pictures and what folks remember, but a lot of people, including this old guy, do not participate in Facebook.

I made a pie for him - walnuts and dried cranberries in a spiced custard.