No more scary clowns, please...

Folks, I've been so good about writing almost every day, or at least posting a photo and some commentary every day. I'm actually quite proud of myself because this sort of discipline has often eluded me in my life. Well, the last posting I did was 3 days ago; there's a reason for this.

We had a "Happy One Month Anniversary of our Last Flood" flood late Friday, very early Saturday. Ben and I bailed out the water that was gurgling up from our kitchen sink. We were at this for over two hours. Ben used a bucket, I used a large pot with handles. The bailed water, which was sewer back-up water by the way, got hoisted again and again out our kitchen door and out onto our back deck.

Finally, I reached our next door neighbor who came over with a portable sump pump to pump out the flood that was rushing through our back basement door. The water was at least 3 feet deep at the back door.

Luckily, we only had some minor flooding in the basement, which is still gutted from the Flood of June 23rd. Water was swept into the drain, or mopped up. It was a relatively small job.

If, however, we were not home, if we did not get the sump pump or bail for hours, the water would've been spewing up from the kitchen sink, flooding our kitchen and living room, cascading down into the basement (with all the freshly painted, brand-new drywall), and probably we would've been looking at wading through at least 3 to 8 FEET of water, which is what many folks in our neighborhood were greeted with in the morning.

So, I'm done with this flood business. I feel like Carol Anne in "Poltergeist" when she realizes after the tree eats her brother, after she gets sucked into the closet, after she's chased by a demon somewhere between the living room ceiling and hell, after her mother rescues her from said jello-covered netherworld, that the haunting is not over, the scary clown in the bedroom is possessed and there's additional mayhem to face. All she's capable of emitting is a plaintive "No More.".

That's how we feel. No more, please. Let's get on with our lives, with the Cotton Candying and championing of vintage parks, with finding places to put things in a meaningful, organized way.

No more scary clowns please, in the guise of another torrential flood - or any other disaster, made by man or nature.

Thank you.