The Blink of an Eye

However I decide to think about it, the past week has been either where did the time go, or, my goodness, will it ever end?

Last Friday evening, (July 10th), Hubby started his long awaited vacation week. He and #2 son helped my hay supplier bale hay. Son was paid in cash. Hubby was paid in hay bales. I shouldn't have to worry about hay this year. It's good looking Timothy hay too, which my horses love.

Saturday (July 11) I go to fix my first morning pot of coffee. Sadly, I can't function without my coffee. I turn the cold water on and it's slowly trickling from the faucet. OK, I know what this means. Yep, sure enough, a water main break up the road in the neighbor's field. I was able to dribble enough water in the coffee pot to get a decent brew.

Fortunately, the water company had the line fixed by 1pm. That wasn't the normal routine a few years ago, but I'm happy their service has improved. We are part of a private water company because the county water system wouldn't run lines out here back in the late '70's. In the past, the service has been less than stellar. When a water line broke, we were without water for quite some time especially over a weekend.

Saturday, late afternoon. Storm blows in from the north. Those are always the worst.

We are surrounded by forested hills which offer some protection from the heaviest of winds but that day also brought torrential rain (six inches in 45 minutes I was told) and a flash flood of water and debris off of the hills, through the creek and into the run-in stall, corral, shed and garage.

For the first part of the storm I was keeping an eye on the creek that runs beside the field. Water was pooling in both fields. Heavy downpours and wind. Finally after about 45 minutes of this I peeked out the back door looking over toward the corral area and was horrified to see water raging like a river over the horse bridge, which is the bridge Hubby built over the creek bed for the horses to cross out into their fields. Naturally I throw on rain coat and run out. Shouldn't have wasted time with the rain coat, ended up shedding it anyway. Just as I got out there the "river" ran into the stall, over and through the fence slats, and flooded the area where the tractor is stored and into the garage. No way to stop it. We've never had anything like this in the past.

The horses are walking around in their stall with water up over their pasterns and rising. Naturally I am still horrified and downright mad because Hubby and sons didn't follow me out the door. As if Hubby could have stopped the raging river! He can do alot of things but he can't do that. He knew it but I expected more. I ran back to the house yelling at him and my sons (#1 son had come home for a visit) to get outside. I thought they were ignoring me. Meanwhile, the horses seem to be playing in the water! UGH! The rain had stopped. The flow of the creek-river hadn't.

Hubby finally meandered (that's my version) out after what seemed an extra long time. Reality check, he was waiting until the heaviest rains stopped knowing he couldn't stop a raging creek river. He surveyed the situation as I'm yelling "THE HORSES, THE HORSES!!" as my guys continued to slosh around in their new indoor pool. Hubby calmly tells me the horses would be fine and pointed to the the bigger problem. Debris, tree limbs, dead leaves all caught in the fence line causing the water to be diverted from the tiles under the bridge to the raging river over the bridge. We both started prying the debris away from the fence. I was in creek water up to my waist, not a good thing in any kind of rushing water. Hubby, who is tall, had the good sense to stay at the side of the bank where water was only knee deep. Naturally, I fell in up to my chest! That's why I mentioned I shouldn't have bothered with the rain coat in the first place.

As we were trying to work our way through debris, the horses walked out through the water to check on us. I was worried they'd step over the edge of the bridge because with the running water there was no way to see the edge and the fences along the side bulged out from the force of the water. I finally got the horses out into the field, where they stayed, munching on hay while we worked. I'm glad my guys are curious but sometimes....................

The storm quieted as quickly as it had started. The waters slowed down. We had a mess! Then, as always happens on our little rural road, just as the sun came out, the power went off. #1 son came out of the house saying, "Probably not a good time to tell you this, but the power just went out." I looked at him and said "You ARE kidding, RIGHT?" No, he wasn't.

So, amid all the gully washing water, mud, leaves, horse manure we now had no electricity. I am thankful our house sets up high and is not close to the creeks.There is also a creek in front of our house, near the road. We knew we were in for yet another stretch of "house camping". The third time this year!

The next four days we spent on clean-up. I felt bad for Hubby since it was suppose to be his vacation week.

Now, I've always considered myself the kind of person who keeps on plugging when times get tough, but you know, sometimes, it just gets to you no matter how strong you believe you are. This year has been hard. I know it could be harder. People just over the hill reported an EF 1 tornado touch down and there was tons of damage in different areas of the county. But I'm definitely feeling battered this year, with my health issues and then Mother Nature wanting to knock me off my rocker! I'm just about had. I'm tired. I should take my own advice and enjoy the journey(previous post). Sometimes though, that journey is full of pot holes along the way and you just want to say STOP IT!

As I like to remind myself, which I have often this year, it's not so much the events that happen, as your reaction to them. Yep. I need to plaster that one on my fridge.

So, in the blink of an eye, a storm blew through and put my husband's long awaited week's vacation on hold as we've spent it cleaning up the mess. Our power did come back on Monday afternoon, for that I am very grateful.

The horses, bless their hearts, are fine. The dogs made it too. The cat could probably care less one way or the other, he's been in the house! If only I could recoup so quickly!

In the blink of an eye, plans can change. Life can change. It's how we deal with it that makes or breaks us. I will admit, I've felt a little broken this week but trying to put it all back together and just move on beyond what 2009 seems to keep throwing at us.

We've had an ice storm, brush fires, wind storms and now flash flood. As Hubby said the other day, we haven't seen pestilence....................yet.

Time for the Serenity Prayer
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
Wisdom to know the difference. Amen