Hundred-year Flood

Tennessee got flooded. Big time.  The Buffalo River was at an all-time high.  Gigantic amounts of water.

(compare to the graph in the post from April 25th):
Notice how the scale, typically going to around 13 feet, has been expanded to 33 feet.  With around 15" of rain around Middle Tennessee in 2 days, the water couldn't empty fast enough;  the River shot up to 25 feet high.

The pictures below tell the sad story.

Home is an ISLAND

What a difference a few days make.  Look how happy and proud the Garden Cottage is wearing its new coat of paint.  And its "big brother" house is nearby.

Then it started to rain... and rain...  and rain... and rain:

Now, see the Garden Cottage.  Well, at least you can see the very top of its roof.

Look carefully and see the Garden Cottage's roof in the distance, at the upper left of this picture:

A neighbor who lives on higher ground took this picture.  Can you see how the River has come to visit the house.  The River is enjoying wrapping around the wrap-around porch.  The trees you see grow along the "dry creek".  Today, the dry creek is the Buffalo River.  


It will be interesting to see what surprises await as the River returns to its normal height.

Spring rains

Night before yesterday we had ½ inch rain.  Then yesterday, another 2 inches of rain; tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings  throughout the day.The garden is happy.

The River has risen a lot, and will be rising more, but likely will not spill over the riverbank onto the yard this time.
Just a bit ago a bunch of intertwined logs and branches went racing downriver.

This morning the wind is calm, the skies are all deep blue and many different birds are chirping.
It is fascinating to see the goldfinches zooming all around as they race from tree to tree.  What are they doing—maybe they're choosing up partners?

Leafing out along the River

So many colors green in the early spring along the River bank.

(click to enlarge picture in new window)

The big walnut tree at the left is one of the last trees to leaf out in the Spring.  The river birches, with the white trunks have begun to sport new green leaves.  The several "wild" trees at the right are still getting themselves ready for Spring.
This picture shows our entire riverbank in early-mid April.  Weather has been perfect; temperatures about 10° above normal.  The river is flowing slowly.  With nothing more than a gentle breeze, the river is like a mirror; notice reflections of the trees on the opposite bank.  The year is freshly mowed.


This picture was created from twelve individual photos that were stitched together by Photoshop into this panorama.  Each photo was manually exposed at 1/800 sec., f8.0 with ISO of 400.  The photographer was standing on the cabin's roof; notice the lower right corner of the panorama.

" ... how does your Garden grow?"

Mary, Mary, quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells, and cockle shells,
And pretty maids all in a row.
.
.

Daffodils - staying warm inside

We're happy here indoors, out of the rain (again!) and cold (still too chilly).

We're standing tall in a frog-in-a-vase that came from the Blooming Arts Festival.