50+ Lifestyles

Forty Inches in Forty Days

By Mary Schricker Gemberling

There is one topic that prevails in almost all social settings from casual to formal, in churches and in pool halls, among the young and the old, the poor and the rich and from one corner of the earth to the other. People everywhere love to talk about the weather. Some report, or perhaps complain, yet others wear their circumstances like a badge of honor. It is as if hotter or colder temps, or more inches of snow or rain is somehow a personal achievement!
 During this particular summer, with its record rainfalls and stormy days, the weather as a topic has taken center stage. Everywhere we go people seem to ask, “How much rain did you get?” And, as if we are going to win a prize, we respond “Forty inches in forty days!!” We then continue to elaborate on the demise of our bridge. Our house in the country can only be accessed by the gravel lane that goes from the main road over a creek and on for about one-half mile. We often have trouble with debris or large tree limbs that fall over during storms and impede our thoroughfare, but this summer the immense amounts of rain over short time periods were a bit more than the twenty-seven year old bridge could handle. During one heavy deluge of rain, nine inches in four hours, the water rushed over the top of the culverts washing them away along with years and years of gravel thus creating a new boundary line for both our lane and the creek bank.  The bridge of course was
fixable, and by late afternoon of the same day we were once again able to drive down the lane to our mailbox.

But in the words of commentator Paul Harvey, “And here’s the rest of the story!” Almost every day the following week it continued to storm as we measured record- breaking amounts of precipitation. During another torrential rain our bridge was once again washed away, this time leaving Gary stranded on the other side of the crossing. With the resourceful use of waders, our jeep, and the back way around the lake and dam, we managed to get to the main road and on into town that weekend to attend both an anniversary party and a funeral. After a couple of days the bridge was once again repaired with a much larger culvert and additional loads of gravel!
Other than inconvenience, and additional expense no serious harm was done and life is pretty much back to normal. But the real lesson in all of this is that ‘Mother Nature is a force to reckon with’. Though a loving, kind, and beautiful power, Mother Nature’s wrath is not to be dismissed!

Mary, a former educator and Seniors Real Estate Specialist, is the author of two books, The West End Kid and Labor of Love; My Personal Journey through the World of Caregiving              (available at www.amazon.com)