I woke up this morning around six for seemingly no reason at all. My tired brain went into over-time trying to figure out why I was awake at this awful hour especially since I didn’t fall into bed until sometime after two. Several minutes later, I realized I was listening to the sound of rain. Again. Apparently when a person wakes up, their hearing is one of the LAST senses to work properly! Funny, I always heard it was smell… No pun intended.
So there I lay, wondering when exactly I had moved from Phoenix a.k.a. the “Valley of the Sun” to Seattle. When I was a child, my parents briefly lived in a small town on the Olympic Peninsula inappropriately named “Belfair.” Correct town name? “Belfoul.” Because of this experience, I am quite familiar with the consistent rainfall Seattle is well known for. I can assure you the weather we have been experiencing here would definitely make her proud!
Where does one even begin to describe this storm and its effects? Should I start by mentioning that during the entire YEAR of 2009 Phoenix only received 1.59 inches of rain while just last week alone we received a whopping 2 inches? There were travel restrictions around the entire state of Arizona and I saw footage of a road that had been eroded from underneath by water. Dry gulches, river beds and washes now frothed and seethed with water that angrily pounded its way through them. A house around 48th Street and the Carefree Highway overlooking a nearby wash had part of the land supporting it washed away. Let me just state for the record, seeing a house teetering over an apparent raging river is not a common sight here in Phoenix! Did I mention yet that the ENTIRE city of Wenden, Arizona flooded early Friday morning? Can you imagine waking up in the morning, you know…when your brain is hazy and those senses we previously discussed are not functioning correctly…only to step out of bed and into the bathtub? How many of us would immediately wonder if we wet the bed…I know I might.
On the flip side, my mother felt it necessary to call late Friday afternoon so she could tell me what was happening here in Phoenix. *chuckle* Thanks mom! While Flagstaff received almost five feet of snow that caused the roofs on some buildings to collapse, there WAS a collective cheer heard around the state from the operators of the Arizona Snow-bowl and the people who love to ski! City officials in Flagstaff are also thrilled because Lake Mary, which prior to this storm was only filled to thirty percent, now sits at sixty percent. More importantly if they are *cough* lucky enough to receive another foot of snow before winter’s end their water usage will be covered for the next two years! Can I please get a “Huzzah!”
I am also pleased to announce that, to my knowledge, only two people were ticketed for breaking the “Stupid Motorist Law.” Yes… That is an actual law here in Arizona; for its definition please follow the included link. I can’t actually explain it to you for fear of what I might be compelled to say after. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stupid_Motorist_Law
In closing, here’s hoping the skies clear, the teetering house doesn’t fall into the wash, the damaged roads get repaired, Lake Wenden dries up and Flagstaff only receives a foot of snow and not another four-and-a-half, or at least not all at the same time!
On a more serious note though… I would like to take a moment and offer my condolences to the families who lost loved ones because of this storm. I hope that each of you will take the time to remember them in your thoughts and prayers as well!