Flooding at Millbrook!

We had torrents and torrents of rain in the eastern U.S. as a major storm system moved through the area, dropping almost three inches of rain within 24 hours and leaving flooding in its wake. I drove to work on Friday morning under clearing skies and noticed standing water along the road. I wondered immediately: what will be happening at Millbrook, a marsh that I love to visit in town?

When there is something dramatic and weather-related going on, you know that I must be out in it, experiencing it. It's just how I'm made. And so I scurried on over to check things out, and discovered that both Thompson Run and Slab Cabin Run had exceeded their banks, and there was water, water everywhere! I usually get to leave the boardwalk and stroll along the creeks, but on this day, I was limited to just those places I could get to via boardwalk, as all the rest was under water!

I walked along the boardwalk to a spot where it is at its lowest point, and suddenly heard an odd noise beneath me. Did I feel something move? Was I finally going in the drink? And then, of course, my first thought - Gotta protect the camera, no matter what!

But the boardwalk held, and I continued along my way carefully, taking many pictures of the high waters. The scene had almost a post-apocalyptic feeling, seeing things at the extremes like this. I've never seen the water so high here, and the boardwalk in this photo almost seems to be floating. In many places, the water surface was just an inch - no more - beneath the boardwalk. (And boy, was I grateful for that boardwalk!)

The birds were still plentiful, though. A group of three or four goldfinches chased each other through clearing skies, and red-winged blackbirds sang and puffed themselves out like tiny, black caped defenders. A group of four deer came to the edge of the woods and surveyed the water, looked puzzled and concerned, turned back, did not cross. I don't think they were trapped, but they didn't look too happy about all that water, which was restricting their normal routes of travel.

The song to accompany this photo of lots and lots of water is a tune by Peter Gabriel that I have always loved. It's called Red Rain, and I thought it fitting because of all the rain we had. In this version, Red Rain is performed by an all-star cast: Peter Gabriel of Genesis, Michael Stipe of REM, and Natalie Merchant of the 10,000 Maniacs. When Peter Gabriel's voice roars in like a lion at :45, it gives me chills!