rain leading to flooding

We moved into our Roselle house in March of 2004.  Before buying it we looked it over carefully and also had a home inspection. It was fairly clear that the basement did not get water.  I could tell by looking in the corners and along the baseboards for water stains, sniffing for mildew and noting that the owners things were stored on the floor and not up on boards.

We had no water in the basement for the first three or four years.  I now look back on those years longingly.  How wonderful to have lightning flashing, thunder crashing and rain falling by the bucketful and have a dry basement.  Part of that wonderfulness comes from freedom from worry.

Worry is now the byword.  Even when we don't get water, and we usually don't, I am always worried.

Today, May 29th, the Sunday of Memorial weekend it rained like hell.  I kept going in the basement to check on the sump pump and to look at the sliding glass door where nearly all of the water leaks in.

All was fine until the last round of rain.  Around 1 PM it rained hard, very hard.  There had been lots of rain the day before and also plenty of rain over the previous two hours.  This hard rain lasted for about 15 minutes.

During that last heavy rain I went down stairs to check yet again, the lower level patio was full of water and it was leaking in under the sliding glass door.  There was probably about 20 gallons of water on the floor - imagine four 5 gallon buckets of water spilled onto the floor of your basement.

The water was bubbling in under the door.  I called up to Sarah and Amanda, "We've got water!"

I grabbed old towels and rags and tried to block the water at the sliding glass door.  I took more towels and used a mop to push them through the water and towards the floor drain in the laundry room.

Amanda came down.  She didn't want to walk in the water because it was icky.  I won't say more about that but you might imagine my thoughts at that moment.  She started laying rags and towels out and using a mop to direct them.  Sarah went out and used a broom to clear the drain in the lower patio.  That was a vital job.

Baker was sleeping.  Sweetie the cat was nowhere to be found.

Water covered about twenty percent of our floor.  The tile in the finished part of the basement is already ruined from about seven previous floods.  

We continued to push rags and towels through the water.  The sump pump ran constantly.  Baker came downstairs after most of the work was done and then mostly stood and watched me work.

The floor won't be really dry for a week or more.  But we got up all of the standing water and I set up a fan and left it.

Not a good day.

Jason C.

A teacher at school today mentioned that she had been at the elementary school and one of the boys she had noticed, in the 5th grade, is the younger brother of Jason C. who graduated from RMS two years ago.  Several people involved in this conversation could not remember Jason C.

Jason C. was described in some detail.  I remembered him.  He was a nice boy and smarter than you might think to look at him.

After school I was walking home.  I never walk even though it is only about a half mile to my house.  But today I was walking so that junior could use the car in case he got called to work.  He didn't.

I had just left school grounds when a bus from the high school stopped 100 feet ahead of me and several students got off.  One of them was Jason C.

I had not seen Jason C. in two years.  I had not heard anyone mention his name in that same time period.

I love coincidences.

a question about memory

I was talking to a friend.  They were recalling a time when their uncle stopped.  My friend said that they could remember in detail the uncle pulling up in his car in front of the house.  Bright sunlight.  Getting out of the green, overstuffed chair and greeting said uncle at the door.

This uncle lived in the same town.  He often stopped by.  Why, my friend wondered, did he so vividly recall this one particular episode.  My friend does not recall that the visit was of any great import.  My friend says that he has recalled this uncle visit recollection more than 10 times during the 25 intervening years since it occurred.  Why?

I have some similar recollections that share the insignificant, one of many and oft recalled features of my friend's memory.

I have a theory.  Perhaps the memory is emblematic.  It might serve as a general memory taking the place of many particular memories.  That might also explain the repetitive nature.

I've forgotten lots of important events in my life and many others I remember that they happened but could not relive them and remember details the way my friend can remember a visit by his uncle one day.

Hay Fever

I suppose that hay fever is an old fashioned term.  Nowadays we say allergies.

On Thursday evening the weather had cooled off.  When I got home from teaching I called Sarah at her work and asked her to come home early so that we could go somewhere for a cool drink.

Sarah suggested that we meet at Tree Guys in Itasca and sit on their deck.  She got off of the train in Itasca and walked to Tree Guys.

All of the chairs and tables were stacked.  No one was on the deck. 

Sarah suggested plan "B" which was go to Salt Creek Gold Course on Thorndale in Wood Dale.

When we got 6 old men were sitting at the bar.  The place is huge.

Sarah and I sat outside on the patio.  There was no one out there.  It was a beautiful setting.  Sunshine, trees, geese, blossoms, bees and an occasional golfer.  We marveled at the fact that no one sat out there the entire time.

We sat there for two hours.

The next morning I felt achy all over.  Mostly my head but also my back and my neck, even my elbows.  I got called into work and was happy for it but it would have been a good day to stay home.

After school I came home and went to bed.  My guess is that I was suffering from hay fever as a result of sitting outside with so many things blooming around me.  No stuffy nose or watery eyes just lots of body aches.  It's similar to what my mother has suffered from all of her life, except she does get some sinus problems.

A hot day and hotter at school

I worked at Spring Hills School today.  It was an exceptionally hot day, made hotter by the fact that the air conditioning was not working in the part of the building that I was in.  Kids came in from their half hour recess at lunch time and they were red and sweaty.

After work I rushed home to make dinner.  Sarah's friend  Sheri was in town and was coming over.  I made  a healthy Mexican chicken casserole.

Sarah and Sheri went out to run errands after we ate.  I just sat and relaxed after a long, hot day.

Mother's Day

Mother's Day 2011 was quiet but very nice.  John and Marge were gone in Champaign visiting Meagan and Jeff was in Portland visiting our friend Tim so Grace and the boys went to her mother's I am sure.  Amanda is still in Boston with JM.

When I talked to Amanda, actually texted, I had offered to buy flowers for Mama to be a gift from Amanda.  As of Saturday night I had not done so.

On Mother's Day I got up at 6:45 AM!  I dressed quietly and went to the Jewel.  I not only wanted to get flowers as a gift from Amanda, I also wanted to buy more flowers and a card that would be a gift from Debbie to Mom, as I had failed to get together with Debbie and shop with her.

For lunch I made chalupas using a recipe I had seen in Parade Magazine.  The recipe was submitted by Eva Longoria!  Before lunch I served the ladies Bloody Marys. 

When I served lunch Baker came down and sat with us but he didn't eat.  Sarah, Mom and Debbie all raved about the bloody marys and also the Chalupas.  I think that they really did like both.

Afterwards we sat outside in the sun.   It was just warm enough to do so.  Mom and Debbie at about 3 PM.

I love those three ladies.  I would call the day a success.