Good Times and Growing Pains

We're getting back to normal around here, slowly, and venturing out to play again. Heading to the park after school is a new routine, although school will be out in just a couple of days. Then I'll have a first-grader in the house, which is hard for me to grasp.
Sliding are, from left, Sawyer, Connor, Parker and (at top) baby Parker - Connor's little brother. At right is Sawyer sporting some static.

We've also been hanging out at Edwin Warner Park again. Some of the trails were damaged in the flood, but there are still some nice places to play. Parker likes to splash around in the water, but Sawyer prefers throwing rocks. Lots of rocks.

The past couple weeks have been packed with birthday parties. This one, for Parker's friend Charlie, was in a big backyard with a giant water slide. It was 91 degrees and sunny - perfect for water play.
Another 6th birthday party was for our longtime friend Connor. It was at Pizza Perfect, with video games and air hockey - perfect for a drizzly Saturday afternoon.
Clockwise from top left: Parker playing air hockey; Connor playing video games with his dad; my friend Amy playing a video game with Sawyer; and Connor opening presents (my friend Erica - Connor's mom - in background).

The kids are already soaking up these summery days. Erin's family has a new trampoline (top left), and we pulled out the gator to let Sawyer give it a try. Our little neighbor Trey came over to take it for a spin.

Another kid you might know has a birthday coming up ... this weekend!

Parker will be 6 years old, and he's testing his boundaries. On Sunday, he decided he was not happy with us as parents, and he was leaving. He packed his Batman bucket with jammies, crayons and toys, and tucked a pillow under his arm. I followed him up the street for awhile before finally making him turn around and go back to the house. I'm still not sure how I feel about that episode. It was one part heartbreaking, one part funny - and one part scary. The very next night, he asked to be rocked - which I did, happily. I'll take any opportunity to cuddle this growing boy.

Of course, I took a picture. ...

We're doing our best to deal gently with the angst and remember what it's like to be 5 going on 18.

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Nashville Flood 2010: Our View

We knew on May 1 that we were in for a rainy weekend, but we had no idea that our neighborhood - and our city and surrounding counties - would be forever changed. The rain kept falling and falling and falling... In total, 13.57 inches of rain fell May 1 and 2, resulting in record floods affecting 52 counties, major Nashville landmarks (including the Grand Ole Opry and Schermerhorn Symphony Center), businesses and many, many homes. In our neighborhood 150 homes were flooded, and neighbors were rescuing each other in boats. Dozens of people have died throughout Middle Tennessee. It has taken me awhile to write about it because it's just so overwhelming. I've never before been this close to such devastation and need. Our home was high enough to avoid being flooded, but the waters invaded houses just 100 feet down the road. The worst we personally experienced was a 36-hour power outage, which was so, so, so minor. We were trapped in our neighborhood for a day and night with no electricity, which was a scary feeling. But we were all together, surrounded by generous neighbors, and we were able to drive out by Tuesday to get food, ice and water. That's when we realized the devastation was spread throughout the region. We soon grew accustomed to the sound of helicopters overhead and the grating grumble of generators, and the sight of Red Cross delivery trucks, police cruisers and fire trucks.

We have all pitched in to help our neighbors in any way we can - from ripping out drywall and soggy insulation to delivering hot coffee, cold drinks and lunches. We were just a teeny tiny part of the gigantic effort. I'm amazed at the speedy organizational efforts from our councilman, Bo Mitchell, his wife, Chastity (who live in Riverwalk) and others to help get donations of food, labor and lots of necessary information to folks. So many amazing volunteers and organizations have helped, including Hands On Nashville, Samaritan's Purse, United Way, Red Cross and others. I have a newfound appreciation for the generous, hardworking people who give so much to help others. And I'm talking about real, on-the-ground, sweaty, stinky, crawling-under-your-house kind of help.

Here are some images from our experiences over the past two weeks.

On May 1, we were enjoying the spring showers. Since we couldn't do much else, we played on the porch and splashed in the puddles.

The kids ran around in the rain. We even went to a "Celebrate May" party at our friends' house Saturday night, including a shrimp boil with all the trimmings. The rain kept coming, but we didn't really worry. Then my neighbor texted me a photo of our running trail by the river completely covered in water. We were a little concerned but never imagined it would get anywhere close to the homes.

We were so wrong. This is a photo taken Sunday, May 2. I still can't believe the water was so high.

This photo was taken via iPhone from across the street on a neighbor's lawn. I can't describe how far the river is from these homes ... trust me, it's unbelievable that it could get so high.

This is how the neighborhood looked by the end of that week. Volunteers set to work immediately helping homeowners empty their homes of soaked belongings along with drywall, insulation, hardwood floors and anything else they could remove before mold took over. While Jerod helped neighbors with the manual labor, Parker, Sawyer and I (and many, many others) took our little red wagon around with sandwiches, snacks, cold drinks and coffee for homeowners and workers.

The devastation was overwhelming ... and heartbreaking.

Our neighbors (Amanda, Ethan and Erin) joined us in making the rounds with coffee, water, Gatorade and muffins.
Here's Erin with homeowners near the pool - one of the areas we never imagined would flood. This lady was amazingly upbeat after a week of living in chaos.

We found this baby bird in our backyard. He was also a victim of the floods - probably washed from his nest. He couldn't fly, and his mother was hovering nearby. We left him alone so his mom would stick around. I hope he made it.

There are lots of great stories about the flood out there. Here are some links if you want to read more.

A USA Today story about Riverwalk in particular

A flood-relief magazine published by Journal Communications Inc. (a company I do freelance work for)

Martha Stewart wrote a blog post about Riverwalk. Her former assistant lives behind us.

Pennies & Prayers Parade

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