Of Rivers and Old Tales

32°f, 0°C this morning, light frost and clear skies---at last! Rain expected later today.

The view this a.m. from my chair where I have my tea. Two phoebes are building a nest over this window, so we see them darting past all day long.

There is much flooding in our region right now. Marietta, Ohio has many areas under several feet of water. We feel a special attachment to that town, as we had a booth in the antique mall there for 10 years. Parkersburg,  WV, also has some flooding but their floodwaters has helped protect the historic downtown, I think. Pomeroy, Ohio, Wheeling, WV and other river towns are seeing significant flooding as well. Thank goodness for the respite of the past 24 hours without rain!

Have you ever had to clean up after a flood? If you have, you know what dirty, nasty, slow work it is. I have helped with cleanup a few times, and really feel for those facing it now, especially since we apparently have a week of more rain ahead of us.

Since I finally kicked the bug i had, we went out yesterday to pick up our checks from the malls and doba little shopping. Everywhere along the Ohio, water was backed up and flooding fields but fortunately it seems that no homes were affected. 

We stopped at the riverfront park in Ravenswood for a walk. Quite a few people were out enjoying the day. We enjoyed the sun, flowers, and the beauty of this little park.

My mini man!

Piles of trash and brush show where the highest water levels were recently. 

At this end of the park, the boat ramp is still under water and the pavement is covered in thick, silly mud.

 

Looking downriver toward the Great Bend of the Ohio, made, legend says, by Paul Bunyan's heel. Paul was trying to get to the great forests out West, and he tried to step over the state of West Virginia. He didn't quite make it, and his heel sunk into the mud on the banks of the Ohio, creating the Great Bend.  Also the site of the Steamboat in a Cornfield, subject of a children's picture book by the great folk musician John Hartford. A true story that was part of my repertoire of Ohio River steamboat disasters. I need to write both if these tales on this blog! Thought I had already done so, actually.

Perspective is everything! Standing in front of the giant chair. The Governor has put these chairs all over our state. I am not really a fan, as often they ruin a beautiful, natural view. 

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.