State Of Emergency

Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon

California should adopt a new state slogan to help attract more tourism. California: The State Of Emergency. For thrill-seekers looking for some major excitement, California seems to be stuck in a cycle of emergencies: fires, earthquakes, floods, mudslides, budget crisis, and mystery missiles. By advertising itself as The State Of Emergency, California could help its economy by 1. bringing in legal tourists, and 2. legalizing its main export crop.

Cats and Dogs

About ten days ago, just a small localized area where we live got four inches of rain in a very short period of time. Our avenue temporarily turned into a river.

In the wake of this early summer storm, we also ended up with a temporary lake in our back yard. Four quick inches of rain is all it took to give us some prime lake-front property.

We never knew that when we were putting in our rock gardens, the rocks would someday be a rampart between land and water.

Needless to say, after it rained Cat & Dogs, we didn't have to do much watering any time soon.

Spring Buffalo

I'm not sure if today or tomorrow is the first official day of Spring but let's just deem that it's TODAY! One way to tell it's Springtime around here is flooding. (Flud is a four-letter word.) Fargo/Moorhead has these buffalos all around town, each painted differently by different artists. This one at the intersection of Main & Broadway looks like Spring to me. That means it's time to go mow my snow.

Rising Water

Travelling east-west across North Dakota, there appear to be a lot of bigger lakes where there used to be smaller lakes or ponds. It's pretty evident that the water is on the rise due to all the treelines that are newly standing in water.

The increase in the amount of water would be great if you're a duck or a migrating goose. It wouldn't be so great if you're a road, railroad track, farmer's field, or someone's home near water.

Maybe global warming will make North Dakota a popular year-round vacation destination.

Caption Contest

Our next in a series of Caption Contest photos comes to us from taking a picture off the television set in the garage.

Please post a comment with your caption ideas for this photo!

Big Deal

An Add-On Poem by Kit & Johnnny.
Subject: Fargo Flood 2009.
Title: Big Deal.
Date Written: March 30, 2009.
Copyright © 2009. All rights reserved.
{Line 1: Kit, Line 2: Johnnny, and so on and so forth.}
{Rhyme scheme: ABAB, CDCD, and so on and so forth.}

Title: BIG DEAL.
When the rain falls hard on the grassy plains
Too much of a good thing can become a big deal
Like gray-haired rock singers' old refrains
If you don't plan your future, stand in line for a meal.
The message I sent in a bottle, now is lost in a sea
There's a river thru my kitchen and sandbags round my bed
How lost can I get before you find me
In a refugee camp with a bandana round my head.
Behind the walls that protect all we love
Mother Nature wreaks havoc to display her power
She teaches us things we have never thought of
Like mixing hot with cold, or sweet with sour.
Fighting like cougars, mostly we are kittens
Biting down trees, dam it up, says the beaver
Our grandmothers made us most of these mittens
While Granpa made moonshine to help with spring fever.
I've entered the tunnel, but see there's a light
Dark times behind us, ahead it's all bright.

An Add-On Poem by Kit & Johnnny.
Subject: Fargo Flood 2009.
Title: Big Deal.
Date Written: March 30, 2009.
Copyright © 2009. All rights reserved.
{Line 1: Kit, Line 2: Johnnny, and so on and so forth.}
{Rhyme scheme: ABAB, CDCD, and so on and so forth.}