Noah's Fortitude

I really don’t know how Noah and his family survived the Flood and the untold months of floating around with no dry land anywhere. I thought that hooking up the sump pump the other day had solved my problem but the constant rain defeated the pump and me. Even my lawn looks like a small sea, there is no place for the water to go so it has seeped through the cement in the basement. Erik and I worked like fiends last night but eventually my back gave out and Erik carried on alone. I lay in bed after taking a pain killer and speculated on various engineering feats that might solve the long term problem.

I’ve battled the waters before but I just don’t have the strength I used to have and if I plan to live to 116 I need some serious backup plans for disasters like flooding. Oh goodness, every time I look out the window I see more water. Perhaps when I am not faced with the present turmoil my brain will click in and I can figure this all out.

Meanwhile let us think a bit about fortitude. Today at book club we will be talking about the book “Half Broke Horses” which is a true life novel about Jeannette Walls’ grandmother in Texas and Arizona. What an interesting life this woman had and certainly she had that thing Texans call “grit”. Can you imagine riding on horseback several hundred miles to a strange town to become a school teacher? Can you imagine surviving a bigamist marriage in a big city like Chicago? Well, I’ve survived my share of drought, rains, snow storms and the like but still I have to admire a young woman who simply “moved on”. She didn’t have time for self pity and here I am going whah, whah, whah over a little water in my basement. J

It’s like I’ve said before, when things get tough you really need to take a look at the world around you and count yourself blessed. Things could be a heck of a lot worse than a little rain in the basement. Shame on me for being such a cry baby!

And by the way, my next critter is going to be named Noah. It’s about time.