Thursday, June 19, 2008

A Summer Bummer

".....And the rain rain rain came down down down
In rushing, rising riv'lets
And the river crept out of it's bed
And rushed right in to Piglet's....."


This is the little tune I'm singing to myself this morning as I depart from the usual food discussion in order to report on what's been happening here in good old Mil-wau-kay. As they say in the Hundred Acre Wood, things are getting floodier and floodier!


Just wanted to show everyone HOW MUCH WATER there is! It's crazy! These are pictures of our summer cottage on Lac La Belle, a (normally!) very pretty lake about 45 minutes from our house in Milwaukee. The picture below shows the view from our street side. Wish I had a shot of the fish swimming in the yard and the minnows around the car!



All winter long we look forward to hot summer weekends spent swimming, boating and hanging out with friends here at the lake. I'm not blogging about this to complain or whine; I know that for our family, this flood is mostly just a very big inconvenience and disappointment. There are many people throughout the midwest (and here in Milwaukee) for whom things are absolutely devastating. We don't have raw sewage in our basement like some folks, and we don't live near a farm like some of those poor people in Iowa who have piggy poop and other nastiness floating about. Yuck.

This is a shot from the edge of our deck. You can tell that tree isn't really supposed to be growing in the middle of the lake! Over yonder is the bench where I like to sit while I have my coffee in the morning (and my margaritas at night!). It's going to be hard to get out there, since the dock is under water!

The sheriff came by yesterday afternoon and said the lake will probably rise an inch or two more before the water starts to recede, which means we will definitely end up having some water in the cottage. After that I have absolutely no idea how long it will take before the yard dries up...we're really going to need about 10 days of 90 degree heat for that to happen. That could be the middle of July for all I know!

Back to food posts shortly. I've been 'swamped' (literally and figuratively) with school getting out last week and all the kid's summer activities that began this past Monday. I've spent a very good deal of time in my car this week, shuttling kids from one place to another, and I'm looking forward to this weekend!

9 comments:

Peter M said...

Yikes, I hope you, family & friends are ok and there's not too much damage. The flooding in the midwest is of biblical proportions.

Jersey Girl Cooks said...

Oh, this stinks! Stay safe and may the water go down soon. I have the same chauffuer craziness with the kids.

Aggie said...

I recently found your blog and have enjoyed reading it! I have been waiting for a new post from you...but I can see why you haven't had the time! Hope things get back to normal for you soon!

Best wishes!

Obsessive Foodie or Food Addict....You Decide said...

This whole situation is just CRAZY!! I think you could do the butterfly stroke out to the bench but you may spill some margarita....you are better off strapping the margarita to your head and doing a light breast stroke out to the floating bench. Good luck!!!

Prudy said...

So sorry about your summer cottage! What a true summer bummer. Good luck with end of year chaos.

Jan said...

And I thought we'd had a lot of rain in Oklahoma this spring, but we haven't even come close to what you're experiencing, yet.

I hope things settle down soon, and that there hasn't been too much damage to your summer place.

RecipeGirl said...

You poor thing!! I can't imagine having all of that water around. It's so dry around here (we get fires instead). I can't decide which is worse. Hope your house will be ok and that the water recedes soon! I wish you sunshine!

amycaseycooks said...

Sorry to hear about the flooding. I used to go to camp in Wisconsin when I was growing up and loved it. Hopefully all will turn out well.

Katherine Roberts Aucoin said...

I am enjoying reading your blog. Wonderful recipes. My best to you with the flooding. We lost our home almost three years ago due to flooding.