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!
