Flooding, Deluge, Electrician, Cars

                                                                 Better goose picture

 Friday, cleaner came. Tommy made the spaghetti sauce from a box with my direction. It was delicious, but I had no Kraft's Parmesan in the green container. So, I had to eat freshly grated Romano. It was disappointing without cheese I wanted.

The cleaner was here with fresh surgery for her trigger thumb.  I never knew it had a name, but I had the same condition. I just slammed my thumb against my leg to loosen it so it would bend. It horrified her to hear it. It shocked other people, too, when I did this. 

Saturday, Tommy and I made a little progress with getting things out of the way so the electrician could put up three fixtures. I went to bed at 8:30, around the time I would have posted. Of course, I only slept until 2:30. I think I finally went back to bed around 4 am and woke at 9 am this morning, Sunday. 

I did not nap Friday, Saturday, or Sunday--amazing.

Tommy and I took things off the table behind sink, in window and both sides of the sink. We sat and waited, and the electrician never came. No response to my calls. I am so frosted over this. Just before 1 pm today, Tommy could not find the third fixture. So, we went about 4 to Lowe's, one that has better help and selection, I hear. 

As we went South, it appeared a storm was brewing. I told him to get off at University drive and it would be easy to turn around. NOOOO, he knew an easier place to turn around about five miles south, right into the storm. We could barely see to drive. Then, when he turned to go home, the storm was worse! We finally got back to our Lowe's and I bought a fixture and bulbs. We wanted bread, so went to Publix the long way! The rain was coming, so I just said to go home without bread. 

Tommy said he would go in. The rain got worse and worse! Finally, he came out with a guy holding an umbrella over the two of them. The rain was so severe that we could not see through the windshield as we sat. Out the side windows we could not see out of the parking lot. We sat for one hour. He was so wet and cold that he used a piece of material to keep him warm and we turned off the ac.  It was barely sprinkling when we decided to come home. 

On the way home, we passed over a drainage ditch/creek that usually has about a foot of water. Now, it was up to the bridge over five feet higher. It was scary. The entrance to the neighborhood was flooded with maybe ten inches of water. Thankfully, our neighborhood is higher. On the crawl at the top of the TV screen, Hueytown was listed as a place with danger of flooding. I have never seen this town listed in flood warnings. 

We still have not gotten our purchases from the car. Oh, I bought one under-the-counter light. If I like it, we will get one more. 

Saturday, I wanted a BLT. I had one and then the filling for another. It was all so delicious. Today, that is why we wanted bread--so we could have another BLT. Bacon is all eaten, but we have delicious tomatoes that will make a great tomato sandwich. 

Now, we need to find two more cars like the one place had that we wanted. However, I will not sign in and give my name, address, zip code and phone number to look. 

It is almost 9 pm, and I think I cannot stay up one more minute. Tomorrow, I will tell you about the cardiologist visit. 

I am still fretting over those two cars. We could knuckle under and buy them, but I don't want to do that. Should I give in and not get anything off, and just buy them? 

Tomorrow, I will search for new electrician. Plus, we need to move things so we can function in the kitchen. I will press on with the car search. 

Are you watching the Olympics? 

Driving Through a Flood

First,  let me give you a little background. I was born in September 1946. My brother G was born in November 1947. My sister S was born in December 1949.

Three weeks after she was born, she was having trouble breathing. My mother decided we should get her to the hospital quickly. However, she soon wanted to turn back.

We lived in the country north of Frayser, Tennessee, just north of Memphis. The route to town Memphis started on a road with huge rocks the size of golf balls or larger. It had been raining, so going was rough.

At one point we had to cross a river with an old bridge. I remember seeing nothing but water as I sneaked a peak out of the car side window. Remember, I was short and this was an old car. Plus, I was cautioned to stay seated and still. The water just went on forever on both sides of the car and in front of the car with no bridge in sight even though we were on the old wooden bridge. Yes, I sneaked a peek over the front seat and got in trouble for getting up.

The bridge was the kind with boards going across it from side to side, just sort of a scaffolding. The part the car actually drove on was a series of boards running the length of the bridge but not covering the scaffolding part completely. There were two lengths about two feet wide each that the car tires had to drive on. So, this was a treacherous drive since the driving surface was invisible under the water. It was only a one-lane bridge. And, the six inch high sides of the bridge were under water, also. It was like we were riding on water.

I remember my mother's voice, barely audible, tiny, tremulous/quivering and frightened, begging my father to turn back. He assured her he could just follow the fence posts barely visible in the fields beyond the bridge. Her voice frightened me and her words even more--"Oh First Name, please turn around. I am so scared. Please!"

Daddy was hunched over the steering wheel, gripping it, searching the water's surface for the bridge as he furtively looked for fence posts ahead and to the side to guide him. His skill kept us on the tracks of the bridge. I suppose the weight height of the ancient car kept us from being swept away.

This all terrified me. While I did not cry or say a word, I felt numb. She said we might drown, something I had already figured out even though I had no idea what would happen. At three I knew not to get under water because I could not breathe. Neither of my parents could swim. But, what could they have done to help a three-year-old, a two-year-old and a three-week-old infant in a fast moving flood even if they could swim? Nothing.

That is all I remember of that time or at least the most scary part. We got through somehow. It was incredible luck that we were not pushed off the bridge by the moving flood. 

We went to the hospital with my sister and she spent the several nights there. My brother and I spent the night at aunt J's house. I think my father stayed there, too. Not sure. That visit was frightening to me since I barely knew her or her family. My sister was sent home a few days later. I was so relieved to see my mother! So, we all survived. I am the only person in the car that day that was old enough to remember and is still alive. My parents would have remembered. My brother did not remembered but has since died.

S was diagnosed with pneumonia. From what I understand, newborns with pneumonia do not survive. Mama had no idea that she would be diagnosed with pneumonia. She just knew she needed the emergency room. I do remember how sick my sister seemed, not able to breathe well.

I am often struck by the fact that a whole family would have been wiped out that day early in 1950. We might have never been. And, certainly not the two children born later. It is a sobering thought.

I was hesitant to publish this while the floods were ravaging the country, but it appears that flooding will be around once again.

(Just a reminder: This is my property so I do not want anyone copying or using it an any way. You know who you are!)