Lollygaggin: Sleepless

We had a rough night here at Casa de River Rat.

I paced the floor, waiting for Zig to get home from work. It was blacker than pitch, windy and colder than hell and he had to paddleboat from the road to the house...a distance of maybe 1/8 of a mile. He made it ok, but he was wet and frozen. He's not even gonna try it today.

We sat up talking...and worrying...until about 1 when we finally pooped out and went to bed.

At 3 am, we were awakened by a shrieking..

Beeep...Beeeep...Beeep...

Beeep...Beeeep...Beeep...

WTF??

We jumped outa bed and went to investigate. It seemed to be coming from the basement. The flooded basement. I mean flooded as in to the floor joists...and beyond....flooded, so there was no way we could investigate.

We finally decided that it was one of the smoke/carbon monoxide detectors in the basement, wailing at the insult of the cold river water.

The incessant shrieking went on for...ever. No sleepie for us. I assume it finally got waterlogged enough that it just...drowned...spiraling down to this awful, wavering death-call...beeeeeee...beeeeeep....bee....beeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

By this time, we were wide awake. So we made coffee.

I finally gave it up at about 5:30 and went back to bed. Only to wake up later this morning...bladder bursting from all the coffee...to find that we now have no...ah...toilet facilities. The water's too high, so the toilet won't flush.

Sweet.

Thank gawd Zig bought that camping toilet last summer. It ain't fun...but it's better than hangin my ass over the deck rail.

Wouldn't that be attractive?

The water is now higher than it was last September. It's within a couple of inches of gettin in the house. Maybe less. But it seems to be slowin down. Thank gawd it's warmer today and waaaay less windy. I was sittin in the living room last night and I could hear the water lapping against the side of the house. It sounded, for all the world, like I was on a boat.

I guess I need to explain somethin. A few people have suggested places that we could go shower. We have all kinds of places we could go...if showering was the only problem. We could go to either neighbor...both their homes are built way up...so their hot water heaters are safe...and their toilets still work.

But it's the getting there that's the problem. See, we have...oh...I dunno...anywhere from 3 1/2 to 6 feet of water all around the house. Our house isn't built up high...like the neighbors...we just happen to be on a teeny bit of a rise. That's why we've been able to stay as long as we have. That's what's saved us. So far, anyway.

I don't have any chest waders. Even if I did, I'm so short that, in some places, they wouldn't do any good. Like I said...we do have a paddle boat. But ya can't get in or out of the damn thing without gettin soaked. And it's cold. The water temp is probably 40 degrees.

Our house is literally our own little island. The vehicles are parked up at the main road. The one that's about 1/8 of a mile away. I haven't been anywhere since Tuesday. I expect it'll be next Tuesday before I'm able to get out again...if then.

Our neighbors have boats. And they'd be the first to jump in and help us if we needed it. If we ask. But see...Zig and I are pretty independent. Neither of us likes to ask for help...unless it's absolutely necessary.

We could just throw in the towel and go to a motel for the duration. It'd be a helluva lot easier. But we have the cats to worry about. If we're here and the water gets higher, we can start movin things up...at least save a few things. And this is our home.

Besides that, it's March Madness weekend. I'm pretty sure there ain't a motel room to be had...anywhere.

So, we're stayin. Unless of course, Ameren decides to cut the power. They did that to some homes last September. Not ours...but then again, the water's higher this time. If they do...well, we're screwed.

Looking west toward the river.