Taken last June before the drought dropped the water levels

Water, water everywhere

We had ridiculously warm weather last week accompanied by what looked likely to be 40 days of rain, which brought with it gradually colder temperatures.

Today, they predicted of a dusting of snow downtown and up to 3 inches at higher elevations.

For those of you who have never lived in the South, there aren’t any road crews with snow plows and salt trucks to keep the roads ice and snow free.  And, while the mountains may be relatively small down here, they’re still plentiful and steep enough to send vehicles careening off the road with only a bit of ice.  So while it might seem a little silly to get all worked up when you’re from Ohio and living in a flat part of the city, it actually makes sense as to why the town is shutting down.

It started at noon with early dismissal of the schools.  Given that it was still in the 40’s at noon, that seems a little overly cautious, but the kids were sent home early to ensure the bus drivers weren’t having to navigate steep slopes coated in ice.

Then, the businesses started sending people home and closing early.  I was supposed to get my hair cut today.  In fact, I was supposed to get it cut last week.  My stylist was sick last week and they decided to close a hour before my appointment this week.  I guess I will let my hair grow for a while.  That’s OK–if it’s going to be cold, I’d kind of like a little extra insulation.

Not getting my hair cut also freed up some time to walk the dog.  Since my husband’s building closed early, he came home at a decent time and joined us for the walk.  We walked through Renaissance amazed at the water levels.  The manmade wetland has turned into a pond.  The barriers that slow the flow of water are completely submerged.  The little creek that runs through the park swelled and overflowed and turned the woods into a swamp.  There is no division between the creek and the wetland.

When we walked along the river, we realized the Tennessee River was higher than we’ve ever seen it before and rushing downstream so quickly, I’m surprised there weren’t rapids.  But I guess all the things that would cause rapids were too far below the surface.

The boat launch ramp under the Market Street Bridge has disappeared.  In fact, it looked like the sidewalk across the river was submerged as well.  We began to imagine the city being swallowed by the swelling river.

While I don’t think there’s much danger of that, I did make time to go shoot from the common area balcony again.  I’d taken a shot from the same spot while attending a photographic society field trip here last June.  I dug that up and was amazed by the comparison.

The good news is that it’s supposed to stop raining for a while.  Just in time!