Mother Nature

Sometimes, Mother Nature throws a curve at people.  Of course, it is not intentional.  There are only a few things in life which are completely out of our control, one of them being the weather.  So, here we are in Huntsville, in a State of Emergency, due to flooding.  The flood warning has been going on since Friday.  The good news is that it appears that the water level has reached its peak and it is now slowly receding.  The bad news is that so many houses are affected by the flood.  Russell and I are lucky because our house sits 600 feet above Huntsville, so we are "high and dry", but not everyone is as lucky as us.  We went out for a drive yesterday afternoon to see for ourselves what was happening.  Five minutes from where we live, on Ravenscliffe Road, there is the Big East River that runs through.  Houses on both sides of the river were being flooded.  We saw an older couple trying desperately to move the water away from their house with a small tractor.  They looked so desperate.  Today, as we drove by, we could see that the water level had diminished and we could now see their house rising above the water.  No doubt there is damage but their house is, for the most part, intact.  I could go on and on but there is no need.  We always read about flooding but we had never seen it with our own eyes.  It is a terrible tragedy to witness, whether it is in Huntsville or anywhere else.  Other cities in Northern Ontario are also affected, such as Bracebridge, Gravenhurst, Baysville, and many more.

Of course, in life, you always have to try to find something that will make you smile even when something terrible is happening. Today, as we were driving around in Huntsville, on our way to the Canada Summit Centre for a walk, we drove by the parking lot where Moose Delany's restaurant is, as well as Home Hardware, and a few other stores.  The parking lot is now completely filled with water and I attach a picture that was posted by a resident of Huntsville.  What we saw, however, was a man in a kayak, having a good time in the water filled parking lot of that little mall.  Unfortunately, we did not have our camera with us so no picture but it was really funny to watch.

The Huntsville Table Soup Kitchen is now looking for donations for prepared meals during this difficult time.  Russell and I will be doing our share in helping any way we can.

Other than the torrential rain which led to the flooding on Friday, this past week was relatively quiet.  I did have an unexpected tooth ache that made me want to climb walls.  It turns out I have an abscess and I am currently on antibiotics.  I will have a root canal on May 9. Not something to look forward to but no choice in the matter.   The antibiotics are working and the pain is virtually gone.

I had a good music lesson last Thursday.  My teacher could tell that I had been practicing.  I have a lot to practice for this week's lesson.  Russell caught me by surprise when he took a picture of me playing yesterday morning.  I thought it would be fun to include that picture in my blog.  I also include a picture of Cripple Creek, which is where we bought the Keyboard and where I take my lessons.   Very colourful building.

That's about it for this week's blog.  This coming week will be busy.  Cooper will be going to Camp Talemaker while we go to Toronto for an overnight stay.  We have a few errands to run and we made the decision to return to our Toronto hairdresser for our hair cut.  This will give us a chance to return to Toronto on a more frequent basis and, of course, it gives the Coop a chance to have a little vacation at Camp Talemaker, also on a more frequent basis, which he loves :-)

I wish everyone a good week.  I especially send my thoughts and prayers to those affected by the flooding, no matter where they live.  Enjoy the "potpourri" of pictures.  The picture of Highway 11 is courtesy of Marc Clephan.  Marc is Sandy's significant other, Sandy being the owner of the doggie daycare where we take Cooper every week.  Marc is an excellent photographer and I "borrowed" this picture from him so that you could see what Highway 11 looked like yesterday.

Anne practicing and singing along...can you name that tune?

Highway 11 is not a dry way to go at this point.

Cripple Creek...run by people from another era...the colors give it away.

The parking lot outside On the Docks...used to be drive up...boat in.

Moose Delaney's.....parking lot/kayak course.