And, more rain.

We're now stuck at home thanks to the constant rain. Current estimates are that we've gotten 19 or more inches since Wednesday. The creek near our house reaches flood stage at 23 feet. It's currently at about 29 feet. A town south of us has evacuated some people because they've now gotten over their hundred year flood levels. And the rain just keeps coming! I'm very thankful that our house is up high right now. The idea that we can't go anywhere kind of creeps me out. But, every road that leads to a town is impassable due to high water. A few cars have already been swept off the main road into town. The minor roads into town look something like this:
That's the road that goes by our house, at a low spot about a half mile from home. So yeah, we're not going anywhere. I'm kind of bored.

Rain. And More Rain.

Do you ever wonder what would happen if it just didn't stop raining? I'm wondering that right now. This is day four of nothing but rain. We've gotten at least twelve inches now, maybe more. I was judging from our swimming pool, since I knew where the water level was when the rain started. But the pool started overflowing yesterday morning, so now I don't know. My little garden is the closest thing to the creek that crosses our property. I knew the creek had been out of its banks because my corn is trampled over as though a herd of elephants meandered through. The rest of my garden is flooded, much like everything else. Thank heaven our house sits on a little hill. I saw a house on the way to town tonight where their garage was only inches from flood water. The Pottawatomie hasn't yet reached its peak there, so I wonder if they'll still have those two pickups in the morning?

I hope to go out tomorrow and take some pictures, if I can go anywhere. The river warnings are one thing, but the creeks, streams, ditches, flooded farm ponds and fields present another challenge. The water is still coming. It's pouring right now, in fact, and I can hear the water thundering in the creek and through the culvert at the foot of our drive. Tonight we had to drive over water twice to get home, only an inch or two deep, but this was on main roads. By tomorrow we may actually be cut off from going to town in any direction.

What will happen if the rain doesn't stop?

Hold Me.

There is a menace in my house. Some days I cannot even walk across the living room without being accosted. What is the evil that lurks inside these walls? Well, it all started about a week ago, when I was in Dallas.

You see, I have some imaginary online friends. Some of these friends have, in recent years, fallen victim to a cult. It can be found in many malls and possibly even on the internet (look out! It's behind you!). When I spent a weekend in Dallas, I had no idea that their lust for the tools of this cult would put me in such grave danger. I was but an innocent bystander, dragged into the Lush store, the intoxicating scents and cheery salesgirls overwhelming my senses. And in an instant, I too was hooked. I walked out of the store with a half-million bath bombs and some Happy Hippy shower gel, but those things were not the cause of my troubles. Oh no.

Seemingly innocent in its plastic bottle, the Flying Fox shower gel is a powerful agent of evil. I should have known, really, that buying a product that says "aphrodisiac" on the label was a bad idea, no matter how lovely the scent. When my husband spied the bottle in our bathroom, I was just out of the shower in my pajamas, combing my tresses in front of the mirror. He laughed as he read the label, and asked, "did you just use this?" I answered that I had, indeed, used the Flying Fox, and immediately wished I could take the statement back, because I could see by the evil gleam in his eye what was to come.

I ran from the bathroom just a step ahead of him, but he caught me in the hall. There, I had to endure the most horrible fate since my cousin's chihuahua took a liking to me. Yes, people. My husband pretended to hump my leg. I've rarely been so humiliated in my whole sad life. Since that time, I've taken to using the Flying Fox only when my husband isn't home. Most summers I could hide the telltale scent of jasmine easily, but this year, his allergy medications are working surprisingly well. Combined with his catlike agility, I don't stand a chance. In fact, I hear him coming down the stairs right now. Excuse me, I need to hide under my desk.

Confused

I'm trying to get comfortable with cameras again, after far too long away from my beloved hobby. My latest attempts are definitely better, as evidenced by the following shots of my sweet niece:

Sorry, but I am apparently not talented enough to make these images sit side by side. Know what else I am not able to do? Load photo editing software on my Mac. I've gone back to Mac love, and I'm sitting in my basement office right now instead of upstairs in my recliner with my laptop, just so I can be with my trusty Mac. However, I miss the convenience of the .exe file when it comes to downloading and installing crap on my computer. I lack the funds to buy Photoshop (because there's no freaking way I can justify $650 for editing hobby photos), so I use Gimp software, or a very old version of Photoshop that my old boss had a spare license for. The Gimp software is free, and pretty great, except that to install it on a Mac required several web-guru-software-writing programs, which I had to find and install just to get Gimp to install on a Mac. Then in order to get the plugins that I want, I have to download another program, and input a bunch of stuff in the terminal. Can you see how this is all quickly getting me in way over my head?

So, I get everything I need downloaded, I think. I open the terminal and type -
$ cd gimp-sharp-0.12 as I was instructed.
My computer tells me COMMAND NOT FOUND.

Sometimes I think my Mac really does understand me.