When we moved into our house a year and a half ago, it rained. It rained every day for a month after we moved. The basement was never completely dry. We couldn’t get out to assess the sodden yard. Landscaping was off the list for the moment because there were floors to scrub and unpacking to do. Rain is what happens in the spring, you expect it. We don’t expect it this time of year, and certainly not the amounts and frequency with which it has come.
Last week, rains hit the area. The town in which I work got 11 inches overnight. It had just started when I left work. By the time I tried to return to work the next morning, there was standing water in the middle of the exits. Abandoned cars blocked the middle of the roadways. In my detour, I saw pieces of the road ripped up. Water washed away the road completely in some areas. The banks of the river overflowed leaving behind debris. I had never seen damage like that before.
As I was stopped in traffic getting through the detour, I noticed an old man with a cane walking down the street toward the medical center. He passed me. Traffic surged ahead a bit more and I passed him. The line of cars in front of me stopped again. As I waited, he passed me again. We leapfrogged each other the distance to the medical center. He got to his destination a long time before I got to mine.
Buildings damaged by the water are still being cleaned and restored a week later. Many are still closed. Costco managed to reopen after a week. They declared some of the buildings a total loss. And the rain is still coming down.
A large shoe store had a flood sale over the weekend. We decided to check it out. Water still flooded the road in some areas and we were directed to detours. We looked out the windows and gasped at the wreckage. Sandbags lined low areas. Water submerged trees halfway up their trunks. Slimy mahogany garlands of tree branches, leaves, and grass decorated chain link fences around baseball diamonds with outfields resembling marshes. Flash flooding washed away the land under railroad tracks, leaving sagging steel rail bridges across expanses strewn with gravel and debris.
We drove past a house with a man standing in the yard looking at piles of cinder blocks and furniture that may have been part of his basement. A backhoe parked where the sidewalk had been and yellow caution tape strung around.
Soggy furniture, mattresses and insulation lined the streets. We drove past neighbors standing in front of the piles with their postures portraying shock and defeat, but somewhat hopeful as they gathered together. And the rain kept coming down.
My kids commented about how sad it all was. The sky was grey. There were patches of flattened plants around the river banks. The bridges were nearly floating on the water as we drove over them.
At the shoe sale, we bought rubber boots and aqua shoes.
The rain keeps pouring down.
My husband and I went to get groceries. I glanced down at my phone and looked up again as a wave passed over our windshield blinding us and causing the car to hydroplane slightly. A car had swerved to avoid the scene revealed to us as we regained our sight. Two cars were stopped at weird angles barely out of the lane on the right side, partially on the exit. I didn’t register that they had hit each other, but it seems like a valid reason for why they would be on the highway like that. The rain hit our windshield as we calmed ourselves and continued to drive.
Feeling a bit shell-shocked and emotionally drained from the events of the past few weeks, I’ve weathered the storm by turning to the kitchen. I fed everyone that has come over with fresh baked goods, Jell-O salads, and anything else that I’ve felt like making, including these delicious drop donuts. When the air is heavy and your heart is a bit sad, doughnuts fresh out of the oil restore bits of your soul. The sugar sweetens your outlook as the cinnamon warms your belly. The slightly cakey texture of these easy treats provides fortification for the storms to come.
The Recipe:
For more great rainy day recipes try: Syrian Coffee Cake, Quick Cinnamon Rolls, Applesauce Date Bread.
