After The Storm

As some of you, I'm sure, know...we've had some Weather here in New England lately. A week ago, my lower yard was under 7 inches of water. It was stinkin' cold, and rather a nasty few days to venture outside. Now? The sun is shining, and we're looking at a high of 70 degrees today. Weird...

During one particularly nice day last week, a friend called me and warned me (in their best Pirate Voice) that pirates were coming, and our castle was about to be stormed. (Yaaaargh!!) The kids played on the swingset while we waited (ever so patiently) for the pirates to show up in their little canoe. While we waited...I took some pictures of the aftermath of the storm!

I mentioned our dock before...how it ended up in our yard two storms ago. Well, this most recent storm pushed the water back up and over the bulkhead enough that I could easily swing the dock off of my lawn and back to where it belonged. I locked the kids in the house, took off my shoes and socks, rolled up my jeans and waded into the freezing water. Once I regained feeling in my feet, I got back up to the house. I was rather proud of my Do-It-Myself feat, and looked out the window to survey my handiwork...only to see the dock ever so resolutely swing back onto the lawn...further than before.  *sigh* Silly waves...

I called my landlord, and he showed up that afternoon with Pedro (his friend with a hammer and lots of rope) and they jerry-rigged the dock back into place. (In the picture, you can just barely make out two slender ropes, coming off of either side of the dock. They are tied to trees on the corners of the property. That ought to keep the dock in place until it can be repaired! Poor thing is hanging on by just one lonely bracket...and the Styrofoam blocks that ought to be supporting the gangplank are now dismantled by the storm and scattered all over my lower yard.)

Here's the view across the lake, from right at the edge. I never get tired of looking at water...

The edge of the lake is marked on our property by a wall. The lake is about three feet deep at that point, and the wall extends another 18 inches or so above that. The swingset is set back about five feet from the wall. In this picture, you can see a pile of sticks beyond the swingset - that's the waterline, where the lake ended up in the last storm. During the worst of it, the water was lapping up against the first rung of the slide's ladder. (The yard is insanely steep, so the house was never in any danger of flooding.)

Once the rain stopped, the waters receded within the next 24 hours or so. Apparently, several local residents were caught off-guard by the speedy Return to Normal...or else were caught napping. Brings a whole new light to the term sleeping with the fishes...

(Poor guy. I found two more like him besides. Luckily, one of the Marauding Pirates came to my rescue and helped remove our finned friends to their final watery graves. Farewell, small perch. Sleep well and dream of small fishes...)


(Can anyone tell me what movie I'm mimicking in that last phrase? 10,000 brownie points if you can!)