2010 was the unofficial "year of floods" at our home. After the spring flood, we had periodic flash floods from rain events throughout the summer, and then another big rain event in the autumn. Add in a record number of tornadoes and swarms of mosquitoes, and you have a year to remember (even if you'd rather forget).
This winter, with its snowfall totals rising by the day and by the storm, is adding what will become inches of water on top of the soil still saturated from the previous autumn. Our insurance company informed us recently that when FEMA re-evaluated their flood maps, our property was determined to be in a zone more susceptible to serious floods than previously thought -- no surprises there either.
At some point, I don't know where or when exactly it was, I began to curse the people who built this house here. There are multitudes of better locations to choose from in this section of this township. In a floodplain such as ours, even a 100-meter shift in location can mean the difference between dust and mud. Why several generations of a family would choose to continue living in mud is a question that remains unanswered. In a sensible world, all parties involved with a vested interest, financial or emotional, would get together to buy this place out. Then, the land would remain a wetland sanctuary to the riparian plants and animals who belong here.
