From Drought to Flood, or; Would You Make Up Your Mind?

The last few weeks have brought torrential rain to California, battering our coasts, and flooding our lower valleys with apocryphal amounts of water, water, water. Up here in the Northern California Sierra Nevada mountains, our dams are overflowing, and our rivers are engorged. A state of emergency has been declared for California because as saturated as we are now, more rain is forecasted. I wonder if this is a new normal, and we won’t have to worry about water rationing this summer, or is this merely a freak stop-gap? I suspect the latter is the case. Minus my young adult years in the military, I have lived in California my whole life, and for as long as I can remember, water has always been an issue.

The top image was taken from a different angle, but you can still discern the similarities and how much more water there is.

All but one of the rocks is underwater. I know, it is a different angle, but trust me, it is the same area.

I don’t mean to sound like I’m complaining because California needs this water, but not all at once. I mean, this summer we were battling wildfires fueled by such paltry precipitation of the 2021/2022 rainy season. Now we need to build an ark!

Walking backroads that are cut off to vehicular traffic.

But I did not go to the river just to take pics of floodwaters; I brought the doggies. We went on a pleasant walk and made some discoveries, so it wasn’t all bad.

As with all disasters in life, they rarely come in singles. Last week the heater died, so we’ve been using wood we had to chop up from the trees that toppled during snowmagedden last year to feed our wood stove to keep from freezing. (Hm. That is rather serendipitous!) There are people coming out tomorrow to fix it. I’ve got my fingers crossed that it will be a simple fix and not an outrageously expensive replacement. Visions of moving from this paradise/hell are dancing through my head yet again..!

Which makes for a great segue. My socks pattern, Cozy Fireside Socks, is now available. All the testers on FB have gone quiet, so I’m going to post it here in the hopes that I’ve got it correct. I’m pretty confident it is because I had to test it on the second sock! So without further ado, here is the link to the pattern for the Cozy Fireside Socks.

Still working on the modified Ghost Horses Sweater by Caitlin Hunter. I predict it shall be finished in another week…give or take. I’m happy with it so far and want to finish it quickly so I can show it off. As for my next project, I have decided I’m going to take a chance on another designer for my fair isle pullovers. Gasp! No, I haven’t fallen out of love with Boyland Knitworks; I think I’ve bought just about every pattern she’s published. I just want to mix it up a little. And yes, I’ll post about that when I get to it.

So here’s to fervently hoping you’re not floating away or freezing to death! Stay safe, everyone.