This was a thick hostile rain. Nonetheless, we drove through it unconcerned, flushed with excitement. A dream had been realized. This is something we've wanted for years and years, little house, big acrage. It was ours now.
The rain let up. We drove on, feeling strange to be returning to the suburban home we lived in for nearly twenty years. A house we didn't own anymore. That closing had occurred a few weeks ago. We were squatters there now.
About an hour from the place that used to be home, we sat in traffic that wasn't moving. The rain left lakes under overpasses and in one section of the highway, caused a mudslide. A mudslide in Michigan!
That hour drive turned into three. Closer to the place that we used to call home was the toughest, the wettest. Again and again, we pushed through several inches of water over the road, gritting our teeth, hoping that the bow of our utility vehicle was high enough to get us through. We moved past many stalled cars. All of them smaller than ours. They appeared anchored there in the road. It seemed strange that none of them bobbed in our wake.
The Handsome One and I both had to go to the bathroom-not surprising after 5 hours in the car. We vowed not to pee until the dogs did. Our dogs waited for us on the other side of so many flooded roads. They'd been holding it for nearly 8 hours.
When we finally reached the house, I rushed to the basement to let the dogs out. They sat in their crates surrounded by water. Gamely, the dogs marched through the water up the stairs and outside.
The stuff in the basement that couldn't be wrung out had to be thrown away. It's amazing how much ankle deep water can ruin.
Nearby neighborhoods looked like a tornado had torn through. Sidewalks were heaped with teetering soggy piles of trash.
to be continued...
