Drip, Drop, Pitter Patter, Gush, Rush, Roar!

Drip,drop,pitter patter, gush, rush,roar!
We've heard it all this week. Wisconsin is water soaked! Who could imagine that an entire lake would suddenly sweep over and under a highway and rush out into the Wisconsin river, just as if the plug had been pulled in a big bathtub! Can you believe your eyes? The rush of water carries an entire three story house with it! People walk out into the lake and pick up floundering fish!
And the rain keeps coming.

The wind continues, trees bend and break, and we sit in our big cozy house, lucky not to have any of the trials and tribulations of the neighbors just one block north of Laurie's house. There so many trees were sheared off that the Middle School was closed due to trees blocking the entrance. We drove past, checking on the huge elm tree ithat looms in Mark and Laurie's back yard. Whew! It's still standing!
And the rain keeps coming.

The whole North Shore is pockmarked with piles of discards. Tweed rugs, TVs in wooden cases, enameled white water heaters, overstuffed chairs that once welcomed their owners into now flooded rec rooms. Where will they go with all this detritus? I wonder what archaeologists will think a thousand years from now when they find all this stuff in the land fill.
And the rain keeps coming.

The television set becomes a modern art gallery! Irregular spots of red, gold, yellow, purple and green move sporadically across the screen. If you turn the sound off, it looks like something you might post on U-tube as art in motion. Kind of a blotchy Jackson Pollack.
And the rain keeps coming.

The Milwaukee river strains at its banks. You can hardly see where the waterfall is, because of the height of the brown swirling water. People park and walk over to the green edge of the river, now cordoned off by the police for fear someone will slip and fall into the treacherous current that races by. No fishing today!
And the rain keeps coming.

The back porch sounds like a tin pan. The rain pelts down deafeningly...and then relents for a while, only to start again, slowly as a drip, drip and then suddenly a roar of water pounding down on the roof. Jagged flashes of lightning illuminate the family room window. Wait for it! Ah... there's the rumble and blast of thunder!
And the rain keeps coming.

The bearded purple iris are proudly trying to stand up, blooming in the face of pounding rain. The begonias that I planted in pots on the patio are holding up well. And the thirty little terra cotta pots that were planted and put carefully around the perimeter of the sun porch are thriving! The tiny green tree in Katrina circle dances and sways, but keeps her balance as the winds sweep down Fairfield Court. She bows encouragement to the flowers planted below.
And the rain keeps coming.