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I left the Infantry vignette at a point where I could continue it, or leave it be. For now I'm inclined to leave it be. I wanted to make a point with that short story, which it seems I managed to accomplish. Y'all are fairly easy to write for, you get things faster than the average bear. (Speaking of bears, haven't seen abear in a month of Sundays. Where you at, bro?)
Unbelievable those storms down juvat's way, you can never, ever turn your back on Mother Nature. Reminds me of a few summers back when one of the grandkids was bemoaning the fact that we (the adults in the room) wouldn't let her go further out on the lake on her semi-kayak sort of conveyance.
I pointed out that the lake wants to kill you, it doesn't hate you or anything, it just doesn't care. If you fall in far enough from shore and you're not a great swimmer, then you'll die. The sea is the same, only on a much bigger scale, obviously.
Storms can kill in the blink of an eye. High winds can drop a tree (or big branch) on your head, lightning can fry you, rising flood waters can sweep you away to either be beaten to death by all the debris in the water or drowned by the water itself. Often a combination of the two, look at all the crap in the water in this next video from the recent Texas floods.
Nature is deadly, even without the wild animals!
We had bad storms sweep through Little Rhody the day before Independence Day, no deaths that I'm aware of, but lots of power outages throughout the state. Chez Sarge was sans electricity for about twelve hours. Other folks still haven't had their power restored as I write this on Tuesday evening.
Branches from the high winds accompanying the storm were the main culprit for the outages. Odd how one can go from the 21st Century right back to the 18th in an instant. (At least I found out that the candles we have will burn for a good twelve hours!)
Another series of storms went through today (yesterday as you read this), but missed Chez Sarge, passing north of us and south. We got some rain, saw the wind moving the trees, heard the rumbling of thunder, nothing very close though.
Mother Nature will not be trifled with, always be on your guard out there. People think I'm a bit of a loon for constantly checking the weather (this is my go to site), but hey, forewarned is forearmed. Be prepared, dontcha know?
It might save your life.
I could never understand the concept of a vehicle without a GOOD radio, just so I can always get weather information.
ReplyDeleteWell, you have to define "good radio," I get your point but if it's tuned to some Top-40 pop star station, you might not hear any news worthwhile until it's over. I check the weather every day, it's smart to stay on top of what might be coming.
DeleteAs to radio, I remember driving home from work some years back listening to a local talk radio station. The weather came on and blithely announced that my area was under a tornado warning. Yup, an actual tornado had been seen with the human eye. The talk show host cut her off and immediately began giving instructions on what to do and precisely where the tornado had been seen.
I think that weather reader (she was no meteorologist) was moved to other duties after that. Dangerous to be ill-informed when it comes to weather, especially if that's your job!
I'm all for radios, but most of the "forecasts" I hear from broadcast stations are generic, vague and generally useless to me. Local TV here does a pretty good job - we've had ripping thunderstorms this summer - but mostly those involve having a "weather eye" and experience.
ReplyDeleteI get NWS notifications on my phone but they're only useful if you know the area. If I have to worry about flooding at my house, it's too late to build an ark.
As for lakes, and recreation , I'm a big fan of wearing an inherently-bouyant life jacket even though I'm still an excellent swimmer and very comfortable in the water.
Boat Guy
All good arguments for always having good situational awareness. Need to know your surroundings as well, if you live in a flood plain, probably best to have that ark ready well-beforehand!
DeleteIf you live in a flood plain, you might rethink your choices
DeleteBG
That would be my chosen path!
DeleteExcellent choice for keeping tabs on the weather Sarge, been using WU for years now, also have a NOAA radio.....that hasn't gone off in more than a decade. So many folks are just oblivious to Mother Nature, always surprised at so many who wear crocs around these parts in the winter when they leave their homestead in their vehicles.
ReplyDeleteI always dress for what "might happen" in the winter. If your vehicle breaks down, or the roads go south (which they can do in these parts rather quickly) you need to dress as if you might have to walk a ways before finding help or shelter. Same goes in summer, always drives me nuts to see someone wearing flip-flops and operating a vehicle. How far you gonna walk in those, buddy?
DeleteA number of years ago my hometown area, there was an insurance rep navigating gravel roads with a plat map on a bitter winter night. He missed the "minimum maintenance sign" and got a half mile down one before his car broke through the hard snow crust. He had ample time to read it walking back out in his oxfords and thin suit pants.
DeleteOuch! He wasn't dressed for the occasion, winter says "Hello" in it's outdoor voice!
DeleteBoy! Talk about stupid people! In the last few seconds of that the video, the folks on the other side of the river were WAAY to close to it. Luck is way to unreliable in these situations.
ReplyDeletejuvat
Yup, not sure what they were thinking, I'm betting they all had their cell phones out taking pictures and video.
DeleteLocal knowledge is priceless. Camping in a river's flood basin should raise a warning flag if it's been raining for any length of time. Especially in the Hill Country. Lessons learned in lives lost are expensive. I live south of there now. NOAA radio from San Antonio doesn't reach here reliably. Up in those canyons, it's even worse. Not a lot of cell service either,due to population density and the terrain. You go there to get away from it all. But if you are leaving your "tools" behind, you better know what you are doing.
ReplyDeleteSound wisdom!
DeleteIt's worse if it hasn't rained in a while. Dry gulches and water courses look nice to camp on as the ground is nice and flat. You see the same thing with idiots up north camping on sandy or gravelly beaches on rivers. Ignore the signs of flooding at your own peril.
DeleteIt's like how to avoid sinkholes in Florida. Don't be in the shallowest spot in the area. If water collects there, that's the place a sinkhole will appear eventually.
Then there's the people who ignore the 100 year flood line. Which happened in North Carolina last year.
Here in Gainesville, well, to the south is Payne's Prairie. Which used to be Payne's Lake. With a railroad bridge going across. Until the day the sinkhole in the SE corner opened up and drained said lake. People have been moving onto the outskirts of said Prairie for years, until the Fed Gov actually did something good and forced a rule for property insurance about not building or not getting insurance for places prone to 100 year flooding. Lesser rate increases for 50 year flood zones and 20 year flood zones.
The Lake turns into the Prairie when the sinkhole opens up. The Prairie turns into the Lake when the sinkhole gets plugged up.
Yeah...
And then some eco-nature-twits put a herd of fluffy assault cows (buffalo, and, yes, I know, American Bison is the correct name, who cares because people who hunted them into almost non-existence weren't called American Bison Hunters nor were the quaint eco-friendly cliffs that the indigs ran whole herds of said fluffy assault cows off of called American Bison Jumps.)
High capacity fluffy assault cows. If the word "buffalo" bothers folks (not me) go with "tȟatȟáŋka," the Lakota word for that fine animal.
DeleteSarge, having hiked a bit in the back country in the last few years, it is shocking how insulated we really are from the facts of Nature due to circumstances and technology. I have had the privilege of hiking up and down mountains in more than one rainstorm, climbing a ridge to 12,000 feet with crampons and some snow in a thunder storm, crossing streams where (thankfully) falling was not the end of the world but it would have soaked everything, and (my personal favorite) getting altitude sickness 1.5 days into a hike where there is not going back.
ReplyDeleteYes, some amazing views and experiences - but a good reminder that Nature does not care one bit about you personally.
Things can go bad in a hurry "out there." The wild is still wild.
DeleteBack in the late 60's the Beans Clan went camping up in the mountains of California. We were trapped for a week because downhill from us was flooded so bad it was closed off. Father Beans, being a Cajun and highly untrusting of the world, packed enough food that we were fine, especially since we fished for trout every day.
DeleteOur station wagon had our sleeping bags in it all the time. Along with wool blankets and jackets. Which were very nice when traversing California from coast to Porterville due to having to go up into the hills/mountains and said place was cool to cold even in summer.
If you go into the wild, be prepared to stay in the wild.
DeleteAs you say, Nature doesn't care. She does what she does. It's up to the individual to keep safe. As the Psalmist wrote, "Flood, fire, blast of tempest that perform His work." Seen just how fast the flood and fire, mostly fire, can move. Floods aren't exactly slow, either. Ocean waves, too. At Duncan's Landing, about midway between Bodega Bay and Jenner, CA, https://assets.simpleviewinc.com/simpleview/image/upload/c_fit,w_1024,h_683/crm/sonoma/coast_Sonoma_Coast_State_Park_Duncans_Landing_Sonoma_County_0010-0329f4265056a36_0329f556-5056-a36a-07aa6b06d3b77f77.jpg there are signs a little to the left, out of the frame, telling people ON THE CLIFFS to be wary of waves.
ReplyDeleteWhen I drove as a small delivery driver I kept the radio tuned to the local news station, both for weather and traffic. I have on my phone, and on my PC, Weather underground. And the National Weather Service.
Being prepared is the smart move.
DeleteForewarned/forearmed... Apparently that same flood plain, and camp, got hit bad back in 1984 or so, and I recently watched a news broadcast in its aftermath. I don't remember if it was as tragic, but it's easy to forget that kind of history- 2 generations removed. Should we abandon land that is prone to flood every 40 years? Well, no. We have warning systems in place, forecasting, communications, but 10 feet in a matter of minutes is unforeseeable. So sad for all those families and who lost homes.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I would avoid staying for any length of time in a flood plain. As you note, things can happen so quickly that there is no time to react. I wouldn't abandon such land, but I wouldn't spend the night there.
DeleteAmong the many bad decisions that the Sacramento government has made, one of the worst is the allowing of building on the Natomas flood plain. They used to grow rice there for a reason.
DeleteIs there no end to political stupidity in that state?
DeleteOne of my old habits from pilot days is to look at the weather forecast first thing in the morning. Now with weather radar on my phone, I do it even more often. That morning the storm was directly in the center of Texas. The yellow ring stretched from San Angelo, to Abilene to Austin to San Antonio. The red ring wasn't much smaller and the center was purple and blue and in our general area but slightly west. That's what hit Kerrville and a few small towns upstream from there. I knew things were going to be bad, but I was more worried about tornadoes than flooding being on relatively high ground. We had plenty of food in the freezer, so unless the power went out for an extended time, we were ok. Yes Beans, we also had a lot of canned goods. The Pedernales river, flooded a bit, but as I said, didn't cross the highway, so only a few people were cut off and most had alternative routes not affected. However, I had no idea the Guadalupe was that vulnerable to flooding and even less to the massive amount of flooding that occurred.
ReplyDeleteThe family we took in that evening was pretty much in a state of shock. The two small boys were OK, Mom and Dad however...Thankful to be alive and safe, but scared pretty much you know what ...less.
It'll be interesting to see what changes, if any, will be made. I certainly hope there are some made.
juvat
I check the weather every day, just to be on the safe side.
DeleteNot sure what, if anything, can be done, other than don't build anything in a flood plain.
When I moved back to the west coast I had kids who'd never seen the ocean (they swam in lakes), I had to point out to them that the ocean will reach out and grab them when they are not looking, you can't turn your back on it. That's just how the ocean is.
ReplyDeleteThe sea can be a raging beast or a sneaky sumbitch, depending on its mood.
DeleteHaving to get to patients homes in the southern Adirondacks, and liking to camp in the High Peaks area of said mountains, plus having spent LOTS of summers at the seashore has given me a very healthy respect for Mother Nature. I always listen to the weather forecast every morning, and check out the radar as well. But having seen the damage caused from both Helene and now what happened in and around Kerrville, I am reminded again of "Hide from the wind, Run from the water". Lots of thunder storms up in the mountains, and all water runs downhill, so even if it isn't affecting me right now, doesn't mean it wont 8 hours from now.
ReplyDeleteWatching that clip, I just have no words...my heart breaks for those families who lost loved ones, as well as those who lost literally everything.
Suz
Same here, Suz. On all counts!
DeleteBy some accounts, Weld County, CO where I live is #1 in the nation for tornadoes. Granted, they seldom are greater than F-1 until they travel further and gain strength. Along the Front Range we have numerous slot canyons, where people are routinely killed by flash floods. I will leave it to the many experts commenting on the Texas floods. We all need to stay aware of our surroundings and the specific dangers of our areas. As an example, flip flops and shorts are not a good look in a Wyoming blizzard.
ReplyDeleteI remember when my Mom came to visit us in Fort Collins back in October of 1983. Took her up into the hills along the Cache la Poudre River road. We were pretty far up when I saw a few snowflakes coming down, very gently. We turned around and headed back down to Fort Collins. My mother, a New Englander, was puzzled, "It's just a few flakes." My answer, "Up in the mountains it can turn from a few flakes to a few feet in short order."
DeleteBetter safe than sorry, I always say.
WSF,
DeleteFlip Flops and shorts are not a good look on 95% of the population of the world, much less in a Blizzard!
Just sayin'
;-)
juvat
Heh.
DeleteHey, flip-flops and cargo shorts are my every-day wear, even when it's below freezing. Because, inevitably, the same jackanapes that complain about it being too hot during the summer are the same jackanapes that turn their heat up to 82-85 degrees F. I don't wear a jacket unless it's snowing or I'm spending a reasonable time outside. From apartment to car to office/store and back? Nah, short sleeve shirt also. I'd rather be cold than sweating.
DeleteAdditional bonus, going to sandals/flops all the time has stopped my stinky-feet syndrome.
Isn't that the official uniform of the Floridian?
DeleteHere in the great state of Florida, thanks to Hurricane Andrew, it's state law and regulation that utilities have to keep their transmission and distribution lines clear of vegetation. The fire storms of 1998 doubled down on said vegetation management, especially focusing on keeping the transmission right-of-ways very clear so they function as firebreaks.
ReplyDeleteYet California has yet to even think of proper line clearing as a way of helping combat damage from fires (or wind.) Same with up north Yankee-way, though involving blizzards usually. Seriously, how hard is it to drive around and see where issues are going to be during funky weather?
California can't even manage their forests, or anything else for that matter.
DeleteThat clip has been shown over here in the UK on all the main news channels, people just don't appreciate what nature can do. BTW we are now in a drought in my part of the UK. I suspect when the weather changes it will be quite violent.
ReplyDeleteRetired
Weather changes often are. Good luck with that drought.
DeleteI am very happy that I moved out of Leavenworth in the late 60s and never went back. That bit in Fort Riley was OK because never once was there so much as a tornado warning. The rest of the US is mostly blessedly free of tornadoes and we saw none in Alabama when I moved there for a few years but our house was built on the ruins of houses destroyed by the last big one to come through. 30 years in SOCAL was just nice. I still recall waking up shortly after being in Nashville though, to watching on TV in amazement as it flooded beyond my comprehension. I'm one of those that takes weather into account when I go out but never when I'm at home. I'm lucky that way. I also learned to swim real good as a kid.
ReplyDeleteThey call it tornado alley for a reason I suppose. I like being cognizant of the weather no matter where I am. Especially living on the coast!
Delete