Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Labor Day At The Lake – A Wash Out

For Labor Day we usually throw a dock party, but this year decided on a small scale and simple affair with just 4 guests and an easy meal of fajitas – beef and chicken.  Daughter, Wende, called and said she’d be coming over (+1), then SIL, Pat, and friend, Kathy, both advised they were bringing a friend (+2), then Wende emailed that she was bringing her housemates (+2).  My math said we went from a party of 6 to 11 and the weatherman advised that beginning early afternoon, we would have heavy rains as Lee passes through – sounded like it was time to adapt, so we prepared things to stay at the house, but with the option of going to the dock in case the weather prediction of 100% chance of rain was wrong.

We decided to get everything ready early so we could clean up the kitchen and house and still have time to relax and it was a good thing because at 11:30am, the power went off and Bev decided she needed to take Coco to the emergency dog clinic in Maryville.  No problem as the food was ready and I could clean up when the power came on – by this time it was raining hard and Wunderground showed it coming for many more hours – so the dock was out.

Kathy had left a message that she was ill and cancelling and at 1:30 the beef and veggies went into the marinade for a 4 hour soak and I still would have time to be ready if the power came back on soon.  I'll post about the meal tomorrow.

At 2:30, I called Wende and Joe and Carol and advised we were cancelling – Joe and Carol called back shortly before 3 and said if we were still going to cook, they’d like to come over anyway and bring the coconut cream pie - now it was really time to adapt.  The kitchen and Bev and I were both dirty but we said come ahead and Pat came on over as well.  Finally, the power came on at 5:30 just as I was beginning to cook so we didn't have to eat by candlelight and Coleman lantern.

After dinner and conversation, Pat left first and shortly returned to advise there was a tree across the road and she had to spent the night, but Joe and Carol with a lower car were barely able to squeeze under it and get out.

We awoke Tuesday morning to a 60* temperature and 10½“ of rain for the weekend.  I’ve often said “all we have to do to end a drought is have a lake party” but we really out did ourselves this time.

While summer, as the amount of daylight measures it, officially begins on Jun 21 and ends on September 21, most people seem to consider summer to begin on Memorial Day and end on Labor Day and I subscribe to this in my mind as well.  While this has probably happened in my lifetime, I don’t remember it – the Friday before the end of summer weekend, the high was 96* and the Tuesday after it was 66*.  I’d call that an abrupt end to summer myself, even though we’ll likely have some more hot days.

Did I mention we had a thunderstorm Saturday night that was a couple of shades beyond red on the weather map and it just deposited a bunch of leaves and small branches at our place.

But 125 higher, our neighbors on the hill had several trees down and had to cut their way out and since the road was open Tuesday morning, I suppose poor Steve dealt with that tree as well – he spent the weekend cutting trees in the rain.  Fortunately it blew everything away from his barn and hay shed.

The wind actually ripped the roof off his tractor, flipped this hay feeder over (it's heavy with very little for the wind to blow against), and took off part of the Greenback School roof - perhaps a micro burst.


The silver lining – this was a minor inconvenience compared to what the folks on the Gulf and East Coasts and New England have dealt with lately, and Coco seemed to be better the next day.  Sorry this was so long, but it was the short version.

All photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

One year ago:  New Orleans – Days Three, Orientation

Two years ago: Darn !!!

Larry

11 comments:

  1. So, all this rain is because you planned a dock party :)

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  2. It might have been washed out, but it sure wasn't uneventful. All the time I was reading I was hoping to hear that Coco was okay and breathed a sigh of relief at the end.

    What a storm. Sometimes there just isn't short version (smile). Lee collided with a cold front and gave us a lot of rain starting Sunday night, but we didn't get the wind or damage you did. Ten+ inches is a lot of rain. I hope he (or is Lee a she) spares New England. They don't need anymore of this.
    Sam

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  3. So glad CoCo is fine. I kept watching the weather reports and saw that heavy rains were heading your way ... but 10 1/2 inches????? That's alot of rain! I never imagined that you were having such a bad storm. And here I'm pestering you over a tomato juice recipe all the while you're about to wash away. :/

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  4. Wow... what a crazy night for sure! Glad you all survived the storm :)

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  5. That's more excitement than anybody should have to deal with on a holiday weekend. All that rain and wind can do a ton of damage. Glad to know you all are OK.

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  6. Yes---Labor Day this year will definitely be one to remember. We ended up with 6 inches in our rain gauge ---but that was after more rain yesterday. Today, it's cloudy but the drizzle has finally stopped (I think)...

    We didn't have any severe stuff up here luckily--just lots of rain. Also, we didn't have to go anywhere and weren't expecting company. So we just battened down the hatched and relaxed.
    Betsy

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  7. Wow Larry, sounds like a crazy day! Glad to hear you're safe and the storm didn't cause major damage for you.

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  8. Hi Larry. We got a lot of rain on Monday too. Fortunately we celebrated on Saturday and Sunday before the storms moved in. The kids had to leave on Monday because of school on Tuesday. Sounds like you had your hands full. Glad Coco is OK.

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  9. The weather pattern is always so durn random! The rain split like a "Y" or a fork in the road, and guess who was in the middle of the "Y"? US! Hardly a drop!!! We watched the Weather Channel and saw all of this yellow, orange, and red on top of East Tennessee! My daughter's phone was out in K-town too. You've really had the water!

    PS: My 13 year old Siamese gal is named Coco too! My last Siamese who lived until 20 was a gal named Mocha! Glad that Coco is doing well. Gotta love our furry friends!

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  10. What a crazy day! Glad you guys are okay.

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  11. Holy CRAP!!!!!!!!!!

    We only had steady rain all day long. No strong winds, no thunder, just a set in flooding rain.

    Like we talked about at the BBQ, Greenback has had a bullseye painted on it this year. Glad you guys were okay.

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