And then some more...

Yesterday, I posted pictures of our recent flood. Although the water in the stream (drainage ditch) in front of our home breaches its banks from time to time, the water usually recedes in a few hours. On Saturday, Weather Underground, reported that our town had received 4.01 inches in 24 hours. A weather station at the school where I teach science to seventh graders, recorded 6.71 inches in a 24 hour period. Whatever the amount at our home, both reports amount to a great deal of rain. Yesterday's water did recede although the ditch was quite full.

Neighborhood Flooding

This morning when Daddy D and I left for church, the ditch was quite full from yesterday's torrential downpour. Also, although rain was falling, the precipitation was light as we left our home. However, when we attended the worship services, the rainfall steadily increased, and perhaps 2-3 more inches fell. As we arrived home the lake in front of our home was even more expansive. We knew the water was at least knee deep in places so we parked the car at a local business and waded through the floodwaters to our house. When we arrived at our house, we were delighted to find the power on and the sump pump was steadily removing water from the seeping basement.

More Water in the Neighborhood

Although this flooding is bothersome and inconvenient, we are really doing well. Currently, the water level is slowly dropping outside. Additionally, the rain has virtually stopped falling. Furthermore, as Annie sang, "The sun will come out tomorrow." Or at least, there is sunshine in the forecast.

Although there are flood waters in the foreground if you look closely, you can spot a faint rainbow in the sky, a symbol of the good weather to follow. Friends, take care and stay dry.

Lakefront Property

Who doesn't want to live on a lake? Well, if that is your dream, you would have been ecstatic to wake-up in my neighborhood this morning. We are currently surrounded by water. And no, this is not a lake, these are the rising waters from the stream (drainage ditch) in front of our home. And if the water outside the house were a lake, you might call the water inside the house in the basement...a swimming pool or at least a wading pool. Yet, the situation is better than what we experienced in August. This time we have power, and if we lose power , we now have a generator to run the sump pump to rid the basement of water. Additionally, the water is currently receding. Finally, our water is a minor inconvenience compared to the damage that Hurricane Ike must be reeking in Texas and other places along the gulf coast.

If you would like to know good news, look at my previous post.

Our view from the bottom step of our porch.

Our neighbor's front yard to the north.

Looking south

The Good News..."She is having a little brother."

The lovely little lady in my last post is having a little brother. Yesterday, her parents, Frema and Luke, found out that their second child, who is expected to arrive in February, is a boy. This means that very soon Daddy D and I will be the proud grandparents to three grandchildren, our two fabulous granddaughters and our new little grandson.

We have guests

Michigan and Home again

Daddy D and I have returned to our short Labor Day vacation to Michigan. We did see several sites. We saw the Old Rugged Cross Church, where the old Methodist hymn written by Reverend George Bennard was first performed. The church itself was built in 1862 as a hops barn. When the hops industry failed in 1876, a Methodist Episcopal congregation bought the building and converted the barn into a church. In 1915, the church building was sold to a farmer and was used as a barn for 83 years. In 1998, a local couple purchased the building and with others founded The Old Rugged Cross Foundation, a multi-denominational non-profit organization. The organization is in the process of renovating the building to a church.
Today, we left Niles traveling down US 12 to Three Oaks and then on to New Buffalo. In Three Oaks, we discovered a delightful concern called the Featherbone Factory, which is a gift and curio store as well as a manufacturer of concrete stepping stones. The Featherbone Factory building once housed just that, a company that produced bones of corsets in the 19th century. The bones of the Featherbone Factory were actually made from ground-up turkey quills. Edward Warren developed a process to use the featherbones in corsets revolutionizing an industry that had been relying on whalebones to provide structure in women's corsets. The inventor also was responsible for preserving the Warren Dunes shoreline.


Finally, in New Buffalo we stopped at the beach. After all what is a trip to Michigan, without visiting one of the Great Lakes?