THE MORNING AFTER THE FLOOD

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-28-2009
THE MORNING AFTER THE FLOOD
18
Tue, 01-26-2010 - 11:19am
First of all, Thank you to all the Ladybugs who sent me all the lovely messages. We were up at dawn looking around our house. There is minimal damage to our house. There were a few feet of water in the basement and a company is coming this afternoon to start cleanup. The propane is turned off until the line can be repaired so a friend drove me to the store to get bottled water and frozen dinners. I also bought a load of junk food. At times of stress Yodels are good! We have a 4 foot statue of a dog which was on a rock wall near our house. It's now wedged UNDER my car. The power of water is incredible. It's not cold here which is good since we have no central heat. We do have a terrific pellet stove though so we're warm. So many people have stopped by and called. Small towns are really great. There is so much destruction to our property. We lost a lot of trees and you can see where the river was right in front of our bedroom window. The force of the water pushed tons of ice up against our house which is what saved it from being damaged. Now we have to get a backhoe here to move the ice away from the house so it doesn't melt and run into the basement. And, the propane connectors are buried under all that ice, too. I  walked around the property this morning and my Mother was with me, at my right shoulder, the entire time. I could feel her strength and her presence. We're OK. The cats are OK. The house is OK. Guess what? That's all that matters!!! Gail

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Sun, 01-31-2010 - 10:53am

It is good to know that the things that truly matter in your lives are okay (you, your DH and your furrbabies). Hopefully you will be able to salvage many of the "treasures" you had in your basement with some gentle cleaning.


I am amazed that the ice did not crush your house as it piled up against it.

 


Co-cl for
iVillage Member
Registered: 02-28-2009
Sun, 01-31-2010 - 12:14pm
Oour older son found some photo albums in the basement, which had been soaked. They were pictures of my grandparents/parents/me as a child. He wasn't able to save the albums but he did get all the photos which started to curl up. He took them home with him and may actually transfer them to disk if he can't save the actual photos. We saved our Christmas tree skirt which we had made in our first apartment in 1970. We really didn't lose very much of value, actually. We were able to save most of our precious memories stuff, too. I've started looking at car ads. Can't believe how expensive those suckers are. Of course, our kids wants us to get an suv with 4 wheel drive since we live in Vermont. But those are the most expensive of all and the gas mileage sucks. The Flood insurance adjuster is coming by this afternoon. This week we're going to get back into our volunteering schedule. We missed our Meals on Wheels people last week and can't wait to see them. There's Thelma, who's 92. Every week we tell her "we'll see you next week" and her response is always "Lord willing and the creek don't rise". Well, guess what Thelma?? THE CREEK DID RISE!!!!
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-11-2008
Sun, 01-31-2010 - 1:42pm

Hi Gail,

I just got in and saw the messages about your flood experience. What an ordeal to have to go through! I am so glad that you and your husband and pets are okay and that there is minimal damage to your property. The power of Mother Nature is both awesome and scary at times like this.

From the stories that I have read that were set in Vermont, I had the idea that the state was all hills and mountains and didn't realize that parts of it were low enough to flood. I guess I need to revise my vision.

I have been meaning to ask you what made you choose Vermont when you relocated? I am going to be retiring somewhere in the next 2-5 years and don't know if I want to stay where I am. The Vermont and Maine areas have always intrigued me, as well as parts of Oregon. Right now, the only advantage to living in Washington is no state income tax but we have one of the highest sales tax rates.

Again, I am so glad that you are okay. What a story you are going to have for your grand kids now that it is over! Have a great day.

Ellen

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-28-2009
Mon, 02-01-2010 - 10:24am

Good morning! We have friends who live in South Woodstock, Vt. They invited us to spend a long weekend with them and we instantly fell in love with the entire state. It's so beautiful and unspoiled. We come from Long Island, NY which is overcrowded, overpriced and over commercialized. It's a very well-to-do oceanfront resort. Lots of famous people, Wall Street whiz kids. But not where we lived. Our people have always worked for those people. There's something wrong when a man builds a 60,000 (yes that's the correct # of zeros) square foot house so his children can come visit him on the weekends. High school kids drive BMWs. It costs almost $200 to get a parking permit so you can walk on an ocean beach. We knew we couldn't afford to retire there. Vermont kept calling us..............


There are lots of mountains and hills in Vermont. Not mountains like the Rockies. Lots of ski areas, tons of lakes and rivers. It's a great place for canoeing and kayaking. Our house is in a flood plain. A tributary of the Williams River runs along our property line and it's about 100 feet from our house. It's almost always calm and serene. Nice to fall asleep listening to the water tripping over the rocks. But whenever we get a lot of rain or the ice thaws quickly (which is what happened last week) it can go from serene to angry in a matter of minutes. It only took 5 minutes for the water to break over the bank and make a new path through our front yard. Amazing the power water has.


Sorry, I got off track. Anyway, Vermont is absolutely gorgeous. New Hampshire is also very nice with no sales tax. Lots of Vermont people cross the border to shop. Some areas of Vermont are expensive - Manchester, Woodstock, Stowe. Some are very poor with huge unemployment rates. We're in a beautiful little town that's economically kind of in the middle. There are ski resorts not too far from us which is good for the local economy but some days there will only be 3 cars on Main Street. I love that nobody dresses up here. I can be myself and nobody cares. I don't have to have the best haircut or the most expensive shoes or a flashy car. Nobody cares about that stuff. I love it!! I can be as frumpy as I want to be and after wearing suits and heels for all those years, I'm enjoying every minute of being a frump!


Well, I gotta go get my pants on because a neighbor is stopping by in an hour. My hair looks like I stuck my finger in a wall socket. Take care. Gail


iVillage Member
Registered: 04-02-2003
Wed, 02-03-2010 - 11:25am

Oh my goodness, Gail!









iVillage Member
Registered: 02-28-2009
Wed, 02-03-2010 - 12:42pm
Well, To tell you the truth, I'm not that strong a person. I'm not sleeping great, yet and
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-02-2003
Wed, 02-03-2010 - 2:05pm

Gail, I'm sorry you're not sleeping well.









iVillage Member
Registered: 08-17-2004
Thu, 02-04-2010 - 9:13am
Yes, our loved ones are the most important, aren't they?
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