You know, every time I bike by the river, along the bike path in front of Frank’s Place (as I call Monona Terrace), or glance out over the barricaded Tenney beach, I recall that last big flood that etched its image deep into my gray matter. Was it ‘63 or ‘65? I can’t always remember. But I do remember those spring days in LaCrosse when mother nature became the focal point of all our conversations. Just like a REAL big chunk of our conversations now. Nuthin’ like a flood or high water to raise that excitement level.

"Man, is the river higher today than it was yesterday? You know, I don’t remember the water covering this much of the shoreline here!" Wait! Wait!

It’s REALLY pouring now. That view out the window at the bridge over the lagoon going to the shelter is just white from all the rain coming down! Give me a minute here, I’ve got to go look out the window to see if Johnson Street is flooding. . . The traffic is moving along at the speed limit now and the east bound traffic seems to be really throwing up the water as it goes by my view. Water must be gettin’ high!

Ok, this is going to make things interesting. As I was saying earlier, it’s going to be fun trying to figure out when the water level is going to rise and whether it’s from today’s rain OR because the locks were opened a bit more to relieve the pressure on them.

The fact that we’re now living in a rain forest plus seeing all that high water frequently makes me wonder: "If I were still living in ‘the big red house’ on Few Street, as my daughter would identify the old homestead in her early years, how much water would be in my basement right now?" People living in that part of the Neighborhood have been saying that it’s been happening to them. From what I can ascertain from news stories, talking with people, or just following what happens to the lakes and river over the course of a couple days time, the water level of our lakes will be WAY high all summer long. Makes me think that the pontoon boats referred to in our cover story will be spending a WHOLE bunch of time on "dry dock" or at least stationary ‘cause the last time I looked, the river was up over the banks and all around them.

Well, at least it we’ll have lots of water stories to share at our neighborhood pubs or clustered under the park shelter!

Stay dry!

-David Mandehr