Water for Thought

 I was invited to a neighbor friend's Disaster Cocktail Hour last night. There were five of us altogether, we were missing three. One was at a concert in Burlington with her family. One was in Mass. attending her mother's birthday party. And the third one?? I'm not really sure as she has mostly been MIA over the past couple of years. Because people drift sometimes.

Of the five of us that were in attendance, three of us live on this side of the river, one of us lives on the other side of the river, and one of us lives up on the hill. And we all had a different tale to tell about the flood on Monday.

This is the view I had sitting in my husband's truck in the pouring rain watching the street get torn to pieces by the river cresting its banks. We were hoping to get a sump pump to our neighbor's and friend's just on the other side of the raging water. Needless to say, it didn't happen.

This yellow building used to be a restaurant where I worked.

Looking in the other direction, same street.

Standing on our porch watching the Winooski creep ever closer to the house.

We were one of the lucky ones. House, vehicles, people and pets are all safe and sound.

Most of this week has been spent helping others who were not as fortunate. Ranging from washed out driveways to complete and total loss of house and home. Admittedly my husband has been doing most of that because I'm just not up for anything that requires that much heavy lifting these days. I have been holding down the fort by fielding phone calls and e-mails from various friends and family asking if we're still okay and if there is anything they can do to help.

It has been a very sobering experience and has definitely served to shift my perception of things.

First is gratitude. We're okay. I feel blessed that we have so many friends and family who care about us. 

Relief. 

We're so lucky. 

It could have been so much worse.

Second is anxiety.

This was bad. Much worse than Irene.

It's raining again today.

What happens the next time we get a really big storm?

Is this going to become a more regular event due to climate change?

Third is chagrin.

I shudder to think what neighbors and  strangers would think if they were ever called upon to help us haul all of our crap away if our house were ever to be flooded.

It's also been interesting to see how people react and treat others in a time of crisis.

I think that overall we are in a good place for whatever might head our way.