I started out with good intentions to do more posting and responding to comments, but have been very busy the last couple of days.

Today I mostly caught up on sleep, and we bought a used pickup for me to get around in. It will replace the old one that is stranded on the wrong side of the river until the major road work on just my driveway alone is completed. It's a 2011 Chevy Silverado four wheel drive, black with tinted windows, and has all the options I wanted. The only thing I have to get used to is the double cab because my old pickup was a single cab, so this seems much bigger. The back seats fold up, and it's huge back there: a person could stretch out and sleep on the floor.

Mr. Troutbend thought we should replace the old truck with one of the smaller trucks, but they don't much better mileage, and I wanted a more comfortable vehicle. In my heart of hearts, I wanted what I got, and we were lucky they had a used one just sitting there waiting for me to come buy it.

I am hoping that the Light and Power company from my town will recognize the need to restore power to my property as soon as possible rather than telling me they have to wait for my road to be restored. Since it is a private road, I am fervently hoping their need to reconnect my power will result in some work getting started by the county. My bridge is a county bridge, and I hope that they are required to rebuild the access to it. That's really the major damage on my property.

Of course, there is a ton of flood debris to be cleaned up, but I think since it is a public river serving irrigation needs in the area, the government will have to clean it up and restore the channel to working condition.

I have been scrambling to track down where my mail has been delivered, and a couple of items I'd ordered online that were scheduled to be delivered on the days the flood hit, so now they are out there in limbo somewhere. I think my Amazon order got delivered to the Loveland post office because UPS has that co-delivery arrangement with the USPS. The other thing was shipped Fed Ex and they don't have that arrangement so I have to talk to the company I ordered it from to see what they know.

Here is a flood story in case you haven't heard it:

A man and wife around 60 years old were in their home when the flood waters ripped it apart. She was dumped out into the river, and swept away from him. A 20-something guy, weighing about 140 pounds, whom they only knew as 'Wes' jumped in to save her, but couldn't, so a couple more young guys jumped in to help him. Meanwhile, the husband was able to grab onto a tree, and all he could do was drape himself over a limb to await some help. All of his clothes were stripped off him in the first 30 seconds that he was in the water, so there he was, naked. It was night out, though. Pretty soon, someone heard his cries for help and trained a flashlight on him.

"Sir, are you married?" they asked. "Yes, I am," he responded, "but my wife has been swept downstream."

"We've got a woman lying on our floor with a broken leg," and he said "that's my wife!"

They told the wife: "There's a naked man out there hanging in a tree." and she said: "That's my husband."

Now they are re-united, and he's wearing clothes again.

The last time I saw any sign of our pump house.



We figure this is an opportunity to start fresh with a better-designed lawn irrigation system.