Spring Floods 2012

Moscow declared a Stage 2 Flood Emergency today.  I heard about it while I was at work.  All of our student employees kept coming in saying "the creek is really high!" so it seemed prudent to check the news.

I didn't think to look at the creek this morning, even though it rained hard all night long.  The creek floods every year.  I used to worry about it a lot.  It was somewhat of a novelty to be homeowners with a body of water running through the backyard and I tend to be a worrier by nature.  But now I worry about it less.  Much less.  The fact that the flood would have to be the equivalent of the glacial lake Missoula floods to get up to the house might have something to do with my decreasing unease, but there's something else at work as well.  I am comforted by the seasonality of the flooding.  I appreciate the predictable rise and fall of Paradise Creek from what is literally a dangerous torrent in March to a semi-stagnant leech infested puddle in the summer.  Hydrologists think that even that puddle is somewhat a human construct; if the town wasn't here it is likely Paradise Creek would be completely dry in the summer, no longer fed by runoff from the roads and well-manicured lawns.  That same run-off makes the floods more dramatic.  If I ever get my backyard restored to natives, maybe I can make my yard a little more resilient to early spring rains and keep a little more Palouse soil on my property!

 

Idler's Rest, Late Winter

In a parallel universe, we have a cabin on the mountain.  Except that in my mind, it's a farm, and in his mind, it's a yurt off the grid.  Hmmm.  Not close to resolving that yet!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Some of us in this house are part Irish and thus must adhere to certain St. Patrick's Day traditions.  When I was a kid my father used to line up and inspect my brother and I to make sure we were wearing green.  Dad wore this awful green cardigan that my grandmother had given him (apparently my grandmother bought my mom one too, but she didn't wear it).  When I was in my early teens I bought a green aran sweater for him and threw out the old one.  I felt our family was much more respectable after that.

On my son's first St. Patrick's Day, he wore a green sweater I knit for him.  He has long since outgrown it, but it is still probably my favorite of the (many) sweaters I've made for him.  It looks blue-green in this picture, but it's definitely green.

Today I'm wearing a sweater I knit for myself in just over a month!  Now if I could only get some of my other UFO's done!

One of the best parts of today was having a couple of hours to myself when my husband took my son hiking on Moscow Mountain.  I went out, bought a Guinness, came home, and drank it while knitting and watching the basketball tournament.  And people wonder what there could possibly be to enjoy about this little March holiday!!

Rainy Days Are Knitting Days

Apparently if you walked into the Yarn Underground today and said "Rainy days are knitting days" you received 30% off bulky yarns.  I showed some amazing restraint by not going (although truth be told, the graupel coming down sideways was also a bit of a deterrent)!

Mourning the loss of the warm weather from yesterday, I spent some time today knitting and crafting.  I worked on my St. Patrick's Day garland.  I finished cutting out the shamrocks and sprayed them with stiffener. 

I'm also getting MUCH closer to finishing a long overdue baby gift!  I have plans to modify the original pattern a smidge.  I'm going to omit the hood and I'm planning on either doing a zipper or a button row in place of the hook and eyes. I just can't imagine trying to close a hook and eye on a squirmy boy!

The Tide Is Changing!

Spring is not here quiet yet, but we were treated to two days in a row of 60 degree weather!  I had fun going around the yard today to see what was starting to emerge, and took advantage of the warm weather to dig out the asters in the perennial bed.  I like asters, but they have gotten a little out of control over the years and need to be thinned.  It was so warm I was ready to take off my sweater, but by afternoon, the weather was already turning colder.  Snow is expected for tomorrow!  It's kind of a funny thing on the Palouse that once the weather hits 55, people start stripping off clothes like it's Mardi Gras!

 

 

 

The pine siskins and goldfinch are back, along with the winter residents, chickadees and juncos.  Of course, so Early, the crazy pheasant, who is lucky he hasn't been shot or strangled over the years by our next door neighbor!