The Flood

When I adopted the name "Jill of Ark," I suppose it was only a matter of time before I also drew to me other elements of Noah's epic tale (besides the pairs of animals).  Still, it was quite a shock when my housemate brother called on a random Tuesday afternoon in April to report that our house was, randomly, under water.

An abruptly violent storm that swept through the area was allegedly too much for the drainage system at the top of the hill to accommodate, and alas, every rejected droplet made its wet, merry way down said hill to stage an impromptu poolside party around our and our neighbor's houses.  We must have missed that e-vite because we were not prepared for this:

And certainly not this:

I'm not sure anyone could have been prepared for a fluke flash flood.  And to be sure, I asked Holly and Quincy, who were more than a little perturbed about having to be confined to my bedroom for more than a week while about 70% of the house was being cleaned and retiled or recarpeted.

"Hey!  Don't look at us.  If we could have taught you how to stop this, we would have acted!"  (They cut me off before I could even get my complete question out.  But since I was relieved to know it wasn't the residual effect of some compounding life lessons I'd been too obtuse to notice in recent weeks, I didn't mind.)

A semi-disaster was the last thing I needed when I was already on the verge of a complete mental breakdown from an insanely hectic teaching load and the chronic stress-related health issues that had been harassing me for extra credit all semester.  Thankfully, my little brother really stepped up to the plate since my time and physical abilities were so limited.  Not only did he make sure my animal pals were safe (since I wasn't home at the time this happened), he made all the calls, ripped up all the carpets, learned to lay ceramic tile, patched and painted, researched vendors and arranged for the new carpets to come in, moved furniture several times, and pumped the water out of the backyard.  He was Super Home-Repair Man.  I was also touched by how many of my friends unplugged their own dehumifiers from their basements to lend them to our swamp cleanup project for a few days.  I suppose that, sometimes, we need something awful to happen to us so that we can be reminded how much we have to be grateful for.

Water cleanses.  Perhaps we've been washed out to make room for new excitement and joy to come in.  After all, a lot of physical clutter that needed to be purged was finally forced to be purged.  Plus the new carpets make the house look bigger and brighter, and the off-white tile floor is a huge upgrade from the outdated brick-colored laminate that used to greet you at the door. 

Of course, it could have been worse.  We were fortunate to lose only some old rugs and a few miscellaneous items, unlike the family next door who lost virtually everything inside their house.  We still have a place to live, unlike so many affected by the more catastrophic floods that have wreaked havoc around the globe over the past few weeks.  My heart goes out to them. 

And it could have been WAY worse had I somehow summoned the story of the other piece of my namesake.  That's reason enough to celebrate, isn't it? :)