It's a Michigan kinda day...

And here I was worried that I’d have a hard time coming up with things to write about…. 

Michigan is having a…. Michigan kinda day. It does feel right for a Sunday, to have wind and rain and fog. One of the things I have had the hardest time adjusting to is the foghorn. It is like fingernails on a chalkboard! And relentless. It seems like with today’s technology, someone would have invented some sort of GPS device that would deem a foghorn unnecessary. Anyway, not much to do on a day like this but curl up on the sofa with a good book and wait it out.

 

 

Grace is actually off-island. Get this; middle school kids got to go to a play in Cheboygan today. They took the 12:30 ferry off the island and since the last ferry back is at 4, they are going to fly home sometime tonight around 6. That said, if this weather continues, they might end up stranded, which means they’ll stay in a hotel. Either way, not a bad field trip! She lives for adventures like this! But really, let me tell you about the logistics of leaving on a ferry but returning on an airplane:  She had to ride her bike to the airport, then walk downtown to the ferry (probably about 2 miles). When she comes home, her bike will be waiting for her. If they end up staying the night in Saint Ignace, they will take the ferry home in the morning, and her bike is at the airport. I may have to ride a tandem bike downtown to get her, or she will have to just walk. I'll keep you posted!

Anyway...

So here I am, just chilling, and I hear….. a sound; like a waterfall. I open my door and find a literal river, about 6 feet from my front door!

 

See, the condo building I’m living in has dug this “fake” drainage ditch. The sewer doesn’t drain quick enough, so they needed to divert the water down to the bottom of the hill. The problem today was that it has collected way too many leaves, and the water diverted itself right down the walkway. It was probably only a few minutes away from running inside my door!

Well we can’t have that! So I put on all of my rain gear… yes, The North Face is my friend…. Up to and including my raincoat, pants and my ultra fab pink and blue rain boots. I didn’t have the foresight to buy rubber rain gloves, but in case anyone is trying to decide what to get me for Christmas, there you go.

 

 

Boy, my wish list sure has changed!

By the time I made it back from the Stonecliffe carriage house with a shovel and a pitchfork, I was already drenched. At some point, I stopped trying to stay dry. I shoveled almost all of the leaves out of the ditch and created a new dam that would keep the water flowing in the right direction.

This was flooded over, and the water was on the walkway a couple of hours ago!

The path is water-free now, however we are left with a 2-3 foot deep canyon!

 

About an hour into it, my maintenance guy came to help… whenever he comes around, I always hear superhero music inside my head. He just looked at me with my now-broken pitchfork and shook his head.

Ken... dahdahdahdahhhhhhh! (That was superhero music)

 

Hey, he earned a whole loaf of pumpkin-nut bread for helping!

 

Anyway, crisis diverted for now… I’ll have to check it out again in a little while. In the meantime, I’m drying out with a fire and a well-earned glass of chardonnay.