NEIGHBORLY ADVICE

One of our neighbors invited us to a barbecue this weekend. Not really knowing any of these people, I hated going without John, but knew he'd be pissed if I weaseled out. As usual, he was right. I had a pretty good time once I was there.

Not only did I get to see a really neat house with a great courtyard garden, I also got to chat with several old-timers who have lived in the area for years and years. You learn so much more from them than you could ever glean from the internet! One thing I learned was that my siblings and I were absolute idiots for risking the largest of our two low-water crossings, that scary night a couple of years back, even though we watched another vehicle ford it safely.

One of our neighbors is part of an international team that studies and tries to educate people about flash floods. She told me about an incident back in '97 where there were two school busses. The first one made it over a crossing just fine. The second, following right behind, got swept away. The problem is, all it takes is a slight change in current - a little gush of water suddenly coming 'round the bend from somewhere upstream - and in the blink of an eye, it's all over. She also warned us never to go through any crossing if you can't actually see the roadbed through the water. You may think it's just a trick of the light, but there's always the chance that the bed itself has been swept away - just as that huge culvert pipe was swept out from under the highway near us, a day or two before our incident.

I tell you what. If we ever have a week of rains like that again, I'm staying high and dry right here in my little aerie. You won't be able to pry me out of the house with a crowbar!