Floodwatch

The water in the lake is the highest it's been since 1954. If it rises three more feet, they're opening up the dam. Usually we walk and climb and roll on the dam: it's like a big grass-covered hill with a lake on one side and in the middle a big cement contraption with metal grating on top that it's fun and scary all at once to walk over.

M and S just went to check it out. They said the hill is gone and the water was about ten feet below the top of the dam. They took pictures, but it was dark and I can't really see it. They were interviewed by the local NBC affiliate. S is on the phone right now, describing it to P, telling him it's "incredible."

He didn't believe me when I called him at work and told him everyone was talking about how it might flood. "Who's everyone?" he asked skeptically. "Well," I said, "I got an email at work, and when M (another M) picked up E (another E) at the middle school, E was talking about it, and M (M's husband) got a fax at work about it."

He agreed that I should go buy water. Because if they do open up the dam, we're going to be on a boil order. Doesn't that sound official? A boil order. And if they don't, well, we'll just have some extra water.

M, E, and I went to the supermarket, and they were stacking water on the shelves barely faster than people were loading it into their carts. I got two gallons and six half-liter bottles, to have upstairs for brushing teeth and drinking at night. I felt kind of ridiculous. I saw our neighbor and we agreed that our big houses on top of the hill (short hill, it's the heartland, but hill nevertheless) would be fine.

They're talking about a hundred-year flood. M and E can't decide if they're worried or excited. Our street flooded last summer and everyone went out in their bathing suits and played in the water. I had to explain to E that it won't be like that.

It's rained 12 out of 13 days in January. After two days in the 60s, tonight it's supposed to go down to the teens. I could do the global warming thing, or the lots of other people have it worse thing, but I think instead I'll go watch the news some more.