Rain More Rain and More f'n Rain

The last week here has been nothing but rain. Yesterday I was musing over whether I should be looking for materials to build an ark. Local weather maps have so many red flag markers indicating flooded roads the background looks red rather than white. The weather people have been giddy over all the air time they are getting and all the statistics they are quoting. All the while my borderline depression has kicked in with the near complete lack of sunshine. A day of rain is bad, a week is horrid. If not for my computer and being able to become totally engrossed in my writing and checking emails I might be jumping off the roof of the house, but with the rain so heavy and steady that would not be a safe thing to do climbing up there. Beside that, the ground is so soggy at this point I would just sink into the mud and then have to take a long shower and well that would just be more rain on me. I can stick my head out the back door and actually hear the Johnson grass squeaking out of the ground. By the time I can get out there to mow, it may be 4 feet high. It has already grown from the 2 inches after my last mowing to 2.5 feet! The rain just has to stop before I run out of beer or I will go crazy. This reminds me of a navy deployment I made to Cubi Point naval air station in the Philippines 50 years ago. I was there for one full month during monsoon season. It was raining when I flew in and the barracks had no air conditioning, just open windows. The humidity near 100% inside. It was miserable trying to sleep. It was miserable going out to the flight line or to the mess hall.  It was miserable everywhere. My shoes would mold overnight in my locker. The only relief was when we would get into the plane and take off for our overnight patrols in the Gulf of Tonkin. It was raining there, but inside the plane was dry and cool. The day we left for sunny Guam was the best day all month and no one ever really wanted to return to Guam. I cannot be sure how much rain has fallen here this last week, but my rain gauge went to 5 inches before it started overflowing. That is more rain in a short time than has ever happened here in 26 years. Even in our rainy season we do not normally get more than 2 inches in a week's time. I know those folks down in Texas have been praying for rain and sure enough their prayers have been answered. Tropical storm Bill has been a big one and the poor folks up in Chicago are now or soon will be having a lot more rain.