Miserable Day For Hounds & Dog

It was expected. It was in the forecast. It is happening as I write this. Newspaper said 2"-3" of rain by Thursday afternoon when it stops around 3pm (prediction) but after the first storm blew around us on Wednesday, I had my doubts about the storm that started last night around midnight. Consequently the hounds and the dog are not "happy campers". Henry has been the only one to sneak out along the edge of the house, around the corner into the stone area to pee first thing this morning.

This is never a good screen shot for Walter, who flat out refuses to get even close to the patio door. He turned around at the edge of the kitchen this morning. I guess with his great hearing, he could hear the raindrops on the patio deck.

This is my second winter here, experiencing a lot of rain during the months of February and March, which will lead into late April based on past photos I have taken and placed in their own folder "Backyard Flooding".

Living at 428 feet above sea level, in this case the Ohio River, what else would you expect. It is something I failed to analyze before the move. I was familiar with Indiana weather since I grew up there but spent 1995-2019 in "southern" Indiana about 60 miles south of Indianapolis.

I remember my friend up the street telling me after I told him "I bought the house", .... "well you have property that is the highest point in the neighborhood" ... at the time I wondered what he was talking about.

As I have said before, this land has taken on this amount of water at least since 1958, when most of the houses in the neighborhood were built. My two next door neighbors grew up in the houses they live in now and they are both in their mid 60's .... "your backyard has always flooded since we were kids."

I used the flash on the Nikon this morning at 6:15am ... Watson stood by my side not wanting to go outside. While Henry hugged the edge of the house, walked under the patio chairs and around the left corner to pee. Walter never got past the kitchen, like I said.

Believe it or not, with the amount of rain I heard during the night, I expected all of this to be completely under water so the yard is draining quite well, better than I expected.

When the first storm blew around us on Wednesday night, I thought spring had arrived. I was sitting in the dark with the windows open waiting for that storm with the warm air blowing through the house after sundown. I took a picture of my neighbor's Bradford Pear tree ???? the following day. That has to be a sign that spring arrived in February this year. YET ... I have seen it snow on April 7th one year a week after I was outside in cargo shorts and a t-shirt .... 

Watson had to see for himself around 8:15am, when I told him it was raining harder than it was two hours earlier. They have free rein of the garage on a day like today. I am not sure they will take me up on my offer. I have offered that the past two years and the strangest thing is, there is never a dog urine smell in the garage if they use it. I hose out the floor as soon as the rains stop and this spring I will high pressure wash that floor once the day is hot and the sun is bright.

I cannot get out to take a photo, but to the right of that photo it is solid water, EXCEPT where the Zoysia grass is.

(Photo taken by Cochise County Sheriff March 2, 2023)

Climate change is affecting all of us. This was out on Hwy 90 yesterday morning, north of Sierra Vista AZ.

To the left of the road, where the concrete patch goes across the street, is a sewer drain. The only problem is I have no way to tap into that as it is about 1-1/2 houses away from my front yard. There is no flooding in my front yard. 

This is located just in front of my sidewalk and is part of my French drain that hugs the foundation, completely around the house. I have another one of these on the south side yard. 

Of course this is minor to what is going on up in the mountains north of San Bernardino CA. They are snowed in their small town and one of the blog readers that comments a lot here, lives in that community. I cannot imagine 7' or more of snow and no way to get out and shovel snow to keep it away from the house. I received a news article this morning from a friend of mine, via Apple News and the LA Times about all the issues they are encountering. 

I will stick with my excess rain and shut up when it comes to complaining. I keep glancing out my window as I put this post together at different times and it is still raining just as hard it was two hours ago. That is not a complaint by any means but just a fact.

I am going to post this now instead of waiting and just adding more rain photos the rest of the day.

Needless to say ... the rains keep coming here in "The Tropics" of Southern Indiana this morning.