Ripples
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, July 14, 1999
ANNA MONICA / L’Observateur / July 14, 1999
Remember Saturday, June 28, when it rained and rained and then rained some more? Remember there was water everywhere, just everywhere? Well, when the water comes up in my yard and I have to put on my little black rubber boots I bought at Don’s in Reserve, then we really have had plenty of rain.
Every neighborhood had plenty of water. Word came from Lutcher that somehouses had water in them, and in Garyville there was water where it hadn’t seen it in a long time. This was a problem for not just any select area. We were all init together. It has happened before; it will happen again.I didn’t complain and still won’t when it rains. I know that’s easy to say whenyou don’t have any serious flooding problems, but I remember last summer. Wehad so much drought that even the weeds were crying out in thirst. It was aproblem to try to keep anything green. The water bills were high even though wewere asked not to water the lawns which looked mostly dead anyway, and our beloved plants looked very pitiful most of the time if indeed they survived at all.
Therefore, I made a promise in desperation to the chief rainmaker Himself that I would never again complain about the rain. I’m keeping it.On that rainy Saturday as I stopped at an area that had been blocked off to keep from flooding houses, Steven Accardo of Lutcher and Donna Davidson of Reserve, both now Garyvillians, came along paddling their canoe in the large ditch next to the railroad track and stopped to chat with my brother Carl, nephews Todd and Casey Accardo and friends Kenny Jo Edmonds and George Lowe, all out there looking over the situation.
There were plenty spots to paddle in and other grown ups and a number of kids were out there paddling, too, or making their bikes splash through the water.
Why not? It was fun to make the best of a bad situation.
We used to do that many years ago. It’s one of the more pleasant memories of mychildhood. We lived near what we called my Uncle Lamana’s barnyard. At thattime the rain almost always brought a big flood, at least, enough for me and some of my brothers and sisters to get into a big washtub and paddle away, especially through the barnyard. That was great fun and didn’t cost a dime. Well,it might have cost my mom a little frustration because of our dirty, wet clothes, but it was still great fun! Of course, sometimes we had to swim but at that time you didn’t hear anything about water pollution from chemicals and things. For sure, it never made us sick. At least not bad sick.Today, people have little boats or canoes in place of our washtubs. But I bet theydon’t have more fun than we did, although on that Saturday they seemed to be having at least as much! It was an experience to go church that afternoon carrying our shoes in our hands after having waded through water in bare feet.
At least that’s what I did.
I really don’t believe it rains as much as it used to, but I don’t know. Anyhow, aslong as there is that much rain, for sure somewhere it will flood. Everywhere,construction competes with nature for space, so where is the rain to go? Also, the swamp may be trying to reclaim its territory.
In Garyville, the railroads act as barriers and our drainage is badly lacking. Thatconvinces Stephen to not put away his canoe. I, too, am kind of prepared for thenext big rain. Along with my little black rubber boots, in my garage there is alarge old washtub.
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