7/10/12 The New Normal
As I write this, at 7:45 in the evening, we are experiencing
another summer rain storm. After the
derecho I am a little worried about storms, but am being assured that this one
is normal, seasonal weather. Now, normal
seasonal July weather in my mind is hotter than the blazes and dry as straw,
but this normal is new. This normal is
hotter than the blazes, sticky as melted popsicles, and raining rivers. Our house is quite close to Sligo Creek so we
are at the low end of the run-off. I’m
looking out of the window watching streams of water flow down the street and
toward the creek. At a window on the
other side of the house I can see channels of water flowing under the fence,
past the deck, breaking leaf-levees,
re-channeling, and doing all the cool things I used to as a kid with a hose and
a sand box. In California we would call
this a major winter storm (precipitation wise, not temperature wise!). Here it’s just something that happens in the
early evening.
Our power returned 5 days after the big storm. We learned from the Washington Post and the
local NPR station that our power company, Pepco, is consistently rated at or
near the bottom of utility companies nation wide, and that we can expect power
outages to be a not-unexpected part of what we prepare for (I never thought I’d
sing the praises of PG&E but I may have to!). We moved back into the house, restocked the ‘frig,
and continue to settle in.
On Saturday Dwight and Aric tackled some home improvement
projects and Em, Asaka and I hit the road to do a little antiquing in
Virginia. Friends, I have to say that
the drive that day was amazing. I had
seen photographs of the rolling hills of Virginia, but being there is something
else – another part of the new normal!
In California, our hay fields are cut, and then turn golden while the
baled hay dries in them. In Virginia,
the hay fields are cut and stay green while the rolled hay turns golden in them. We drove for miles through countryside broken
only by barns and horse fences, passing a side road now and then that wound
inward beyond what we could see. It’s
easy to understand why natives would have an abiding love for this land.
We found a couple of bedside tables for Em and Aric, an old
wooden medicine cabinet for me to hang in our bedroom, and a red bucket for
Asaka, who was his usual good-natured self through all of the “no-touch”
shopping.
On our way back we stopped for gas and saw something so
crazy I know that I could never make it up.
Look closely at this photo – the truck is covered with Astroturf. Emily’s response? “Welcome to the South, Mom.” Indeed.
