LOSS

The older one gets, the more loss one experiences.  The past month  has been filled with loss. Last night torrential downpours added to my tears and swept away parts of our road from one end of the Rainbow Valley while a swelling creek turned the opposite end into a raging river swallowing it. 

The rains will eventually stop, the water will recede and the soil will dry up as we await machinery like bulldozers and bobcats needed by many others.  

almost knee deep by first curve 

Tuesday morning was spent cutting and stacking the 3 downed trees vs 100+ back in the 1000 year flood of  '07.  The road also only had 4 mudslides vs 8  but the ruts were deeper some being waist deep. With a mile drive there's a lot that will need to be fixed.

Biggest slide

Impassable even by tractor

waist deep

Not being able to see the bridge nor the black top was worrisome because that would mean the approaches to both sides of the bridge would need to be rebuilt once the waters receded. But would the bridge even be there/ would it be compromised? Coon Creek had never been so high. The bridge was sighted on our neighbor's drone shot. 

Red arrows indicate bridge taken by neigbor's drone

Later in the day, their mailbox stood alone. Ours had washed away once again. This is its third trip down the creek and would it be retrieved a third time? It's just a thing. Gravel is just a thing.

We were lucky as throughout the day we heard about folks losing buildings, homes, businesses, farmland, livestock, their livelihood. We got off easy just being cut off to the outside world.

We have our health. 

This past month we have said goodbye to 3 friends- Marty, age 83,  Meredith 34, and then Monday I helped prepare my friend Roberta, 71, for her burial.  Loss comes in many forms but nothing can replace people...