Life goes on!

A lot has happened since I last posted. We are beginning to put the flood behind us---at least at our cottage. Last Saturday we spent the night at the house and woke up to this sunrise (that actually faded before I could find my camera in all the mess.) But that is the reason we love the river so much. The house is dry, but lots of work needs to be done in the next several weeks. John works on Abrigador Trail, while I'm spending my time working here at Carlton Gardens. The pictures below tell it all. I designed the rainbow fish, and John cut it out and painted it.  We picked up a big load of colorful flowers and yard art last night and I snapped the pics this morning.

FRONT PAGE NEWS!

John was on the front page of the Grand Rapids PRESS on Thursday, this very picture in living color. How we have laughed! He looks so pitiful, so forlorn and in definite need of a new set of clothes from a local charity.

POWER IS BACK ON!

How we rejoiced yesterday when the power was turned back on at both the house and cottage. Our condo down town however is still dark. Last night we put 5 fans on in each house and we turned the heat up (even though the heat of summer has suddenly arrived!). That will dry things out more than a dehumidifier. John is back on the trail now, and he will open all the windows and straighten some things up. Saturday night will be our first night back home. Our bedroom is up in the loft so it will be fun to be home, even though most things won't be back together yet. With the wetlands so waterlogged, it doesn't take much rain to get the flood right back up to where it was.

John is a real celebrity since yesterday. Mlive interviewed and videoed him. You can catch him here. The article says he is 72, but anyone who knows him realizes right away that 72 is the new 50 (in dog years or something). Things have worked out well. We get a plan going and partner up on whatever job it is, and just get it done. This is actually the first time in our almost 9-year marriage that we have faced a serious problem that required our teaming up in crisis mode. I would have said 2 weeks ago that he was an over-the-top fantastic husband, but now I know for sure from personal experience. This picture kind of says it all. That's my man!

Still No Power

I'm at our business Carlton Gardens today, both John and Alex (our partner and renter) are doing flood cleanup, Alex at the cottage and John back and forth between our house and hers (only a couple of blocks away from each other). Our biggest problem is that the power is still off, though we managed to borrow a generator and now have fans and a sump pump working. Yesterday we spent a lot of time working at the house and feel that we would be in great shape if we could only have some electricity. Here are some of yesterday's pics---can't believe that pile of timber is our wooden garden fence of 2 weeks ago. We've got great neighbors and that really helps; in fact, we are able to lend our garage to Steve and Christine 2 doors down river from us, while they work on a new floor. Richard across the road was over yesterday while we worked. He's been fortunate to have no problems---except for the power shut-off.

Flood Receding Fast

By Sunday, if not tomorrow, we should be able to drive to our house. We kayaked in this evening, and decided that there is no way to save the old carpet in our kitchen/dining area. Eight years ago when we moved in we contemplated tearing it out and replacing it with a treated plywood painted floor covered with area rugs. So now is the time to do that. Otherwise things look okay, though there is no word on when power might be back on. So tomorrow afternoon after we close the shop we'll be heading back to tear up carpet. We had a nice garden area with a board fence; the fence is now piled up in our yard as the picture indicates.

Old-time River Rat

Here is our next-door neighbor Geoff pulling himself across his yard with a rope on a makeshift raft. He moves easily from his very upscale "tree house" to his house. His dogs ride along with him. But not for long, the water is going down fairly fast, and we hope to be able to drive to our house (through 10 inches of water in low spots) by Saturday evening. Then the hard work begins, though only if they turn the power back on.

We got emails today saying the press photographer's photo of us kayaking Abrigador Trail was among the "Top Twenty" flood pictures for Grand Rapids region, and the picture was also published in the Washington Post (under "Photos of the Day"), the Detroit Free Press, the Denver Post, and an Indianapolis paper---even made the online Daily Mail in the UK. Gee, I guess that means we're famous!

Contact Info

I was asked how someone can contact us. Email is easiest: tuckerworst [at] comcast [dot] net. Also call us at Carlton Gardens: 974-1062, area code 616.

Assessing Damage

We went to the early church service this morning and then changed clothes and took the kayaks out on the river to make an assessment. Things are actually better than we anticipated. We had hoped we would not have water in our house and we actually do---at the lower end of the first floor. There is more than an inch of standing water in what we call our guest suite, but as you walk up hill to the study facing out to the river, it's perfectly dry. Our kitchen area is wet, but not the dining area that faces the river. The good news is less water than we had expected at our cottage. It appears to be 7-8 inches, maybe a little more at the low end. We had feared it would get up to 2 feet. We are concerned about boats going in and creating a wake, so I made signs and posted them around. They all make reference to "Pure Michigan," which is our state slogan (the adds of which have generated hundreds of millions in tourist dollars). On our way back to our business where we are living we stopped down town and took a picture of the high water there. 

Momentary Relief from Flood

Here's our beautiful granddaughter Kayla with her friend Ernie ready for their first prom!

UPDATE: Just when we relax for a moment to think about purple dresses and proms, we get more bad news. We have a 15th floor condo in the Plaza Towers downtown (occupied by a renter). We have now learned that it has been evacuated due to water issues in the basement---sure hope it's not structural. The MLive article is here. Keeping things in perspective is the key, especially when we hear how bad the flooding is in Chicago and elsewhere.

FREE WATER

I regularly check the FREE section on Craigslist and have posted some things there myself. Today I posted FREE WATER, with the title and caption you see below. Responses are posted below and they're still coming.

UPDATE: I received this notice last night: This posting has been flagged for removal.

Please be sure to comply with posted guidelines and the CL TOU:

I knew it would happen but I didn't expect it so soon. It was fun while it lasted.

Water--all you can haul away (Abrigador Trail, Comstock Park)

Bring buckets and barrels and gallon milk jugs. Absolutely Free. Pure Michigan water, slightly tainted.

• best post I have seen in awhile :) Hope you make it through this okay will be keeping you and your family in our prayers       Carolyn
• You're funny! Lol     Lisa
• If I had a boat and could get there, I would be glad to haul some away.  I'm glad you have a sense of humor and can keep things in perspective.  At least no-one died.  Clyde Park Ave is well under water, about a block from my house.  In the grand scheme of things, wishing you blessings!     Thomas
• Very funny.  Good sense of humor.     AM
• Hilarious, you just made my day.  Thank you     Laurie
• This just made my day! Thank you! Haha!   jg
• Glad to see you can have a sense of humor about it, thanks for the laugh ;-). Feel for you, been there done that.     Don
• You are my hero for posting this.   B831
• U crack me up dude     Michael
• Do you deliver? :)   John
• I'm glad to see that your spirits are so good....!!!   Lance
• Love it, great sense of humor. Pray it stops raining.    3754
• This is the greatest ad I've ever seen on Craigslist. Well done! All my Facebook friends love it too. :)     John
• I am so sorry for you. I lived in FL. and we went through a flood. It is so hard. My prayers are with you. It will get better. I love your ad and pictures.  Thanks.  GB you. Pat 
• I will take 20
  Ounces  :) happy Friday just grin and bare it!
  

Water Rising and Blowing Snow

I just read online that the little town of Lowell, some 10 miles east of Grand Rapids, will be flooded in the next day or so, and the basements of many of the buildings downtown are flooded. Then today it started snowing, blowing so hard it looked like a blizzard. We try to put everything in perspective. Last evening when we brought our freezer/refrigerator perishables to Carlton's house, Kayla greeted us with concern about the flood, but then she pulled me aside to show me her beautiful fingernails, done at a salon in preparation for Saturday's high school prom. Things like that are more important than a flooded house. Yesterday afternoon when we were kayaking down Abrigador Trail, a Press photographer in waders snapped a picture and interviewed us. So here we are  in an online article in the Grand Rapids Press (MLive), the pic below by Cory Morse.

Leaving the Flood Behind

Late this afternoon, with the rain tapering off, we decided to kayak down the road along Abrigador Trail and see how the neighbors were doing. When we got to the end, we turned up to dry ground (which is the only other entrance to the trail besides the road that leads up and out right near out house). Anyway, when we arrived there was a big commotion with the power company up on a lift turning off all our electricity. It keeps our homes much safer, but with that news, we decided to turn around and go back home immediately and get everything upstairs and off the floor. After 3 hours of back-breaking work, we were done. John and Carlton will go back in tomorrow morning and and raise the piano 6 inches higher and get the china cabinet and buffet up; then we'll be all set. The only things that may be ruined are appliances, and we'll bite the bullet on that. Here are some pics of everything stacked high in  house and our sunset departure.

Chilling out in the Flood!

I sit here in my study and see the river that is supposed to be 50 feet away, now only 10 feet away coming under our deck. Things are starting to go by (just saw a good sized blue plastic boat, though no houses or sheds yet). They are now predicting it will go just shy of 19 feet, which would mean a foot of water on our floors. I'm hoping it all hype.  Here is a pic outside our deck that faces north. You see Don's car right in the middle of the road. Sure wish he would have gotten it out early. We always feel bad for neighbors---even when they do dumb things. They feel bad for us when we do dumb things. We kayaked down stream a dozen houses this morning to our cottage and put a lot more of Alex's things up high. We're really hoping to spare her a lot of loss, though at this point I feel certain that the floor there will have at least a foot of water.

RECORD FLOOD PREDICTED

We're here at the house tonight, no rain, everything calm. I've been working on the computer---didn't even click on the National Weather Service Flood Site----until now.  It will be hard to sleep with that forecast (of 18.35, record flood forecast, at the time of this posting) hanging over our heads. What a bummer. But, hey, we knew what we were getting into, and we'll come out of it just fine. This prediction means 2 feet of water inside the cottage, and six inches inside our house. It's going to be a soggy spring.

Local Weather Teams & $$$

Storm Team 8 is our local NBC weather station and Severe Weather Center is CBS, both named for a purpose. They make their money by scaring us all witless every week or two, so you never know for sure if this is really the big one coming or if it's all about ratings and advertising money. Some people ignore them. Not me. They get me every time. I start hyperventilating when an inch of rain is forecast. And I manage to get John worked up as well. We love living on the Grand River, but we knew very well when we purchased our house now nearly 8 years ago, and our cottage 7 years ago, that our lives would never be the same. So here we are again in major flood preparation, though this morning the sun is shinning bright and the water is receding.

We always take our cars out to high ground well before a foot of  water is over the road; some neighbors might laugh at us, but now there are more than a dozen vehicles stranded, though the water may come down enough today for them to get out. Most houses are perched on higher ground fairly close to the river, and now (as in all floods) the river flows by on both sides of the houses. Yesterday John and Alex (our business partner and cottage renter) went to the cottage and put her stuff in the attic or up on tables and counters. This afternoon John and I will be returning to turn off all power there and take her perishables out of the refrigerator/freezer to be stored at her sister's house. In the meantime, she's living upstairs in her studio here at the Gardens. Dr. Ike, Ph.D. (her cat) has made himself at home up there already. Above are pics of the cottage and of her kayaking to high ground.

We could only wish that the weather reports of torrential rain for the next 2-3 days are pure hype, but the BIG one may actually come this time. (There has not been a 100-year flood here for more than a century, so it's overdue!) After John and I close down the cottage this afternoon, we'll be returning on kayaks to our house to stay until the rain is over. (Alex will keep the shop open.) Our house is about 18 inches higher than the cottage. With an  eye on weather reports, we'll probably start taking things to our upper floor tonight or tomorrow. If it's all for nothing, we'll get a good spring cleaning done in the process. IF the water should come in and cover our floors, we'll hopefully have everything up high, and we'll kayak out and live in our loft above the barn here at the business until we can safely go back in. Alex is a good sport, a great friend and partner. She goes with the flow-----even in floods!

Island Dwellers

Every year or two we become island dwellers, as the flood waters rise. This is the first time in our lives, however, when two cosmic forces have aligned and converged on the same day---tomorrow's flood crest (unless we have more rain and higher water) and April 15 tax day (for which we are once again scrambling through all our records and compiling enough numbers to file an extension, with checks, of course). If we were to simply divest ourselves of three properties life would be simpler: 1 house and 1 rental cottage on the river, and 1 retail business that creates massive tax-filing tension. Here are some dull spring flood pics. On any other April 14, the trees would all be leafing out. I think this is the latest spring ever.

13 Kraker Cousins

This photo, published in local newspapers, was for a time well-known in West Michigan---13 cousins in service to their country in World War II. Dad (Albert Kraker) is standing, 3rd from the left. All of them returned from war alive, most of them going back to the family farm. 

A Salute to Dad

We laid our beloved father Albert Kraker to rest this afternoon in a little rural cemetery surrounded by the farmland where he lived his entire life. It was a gloomy day, rain off and on, appropriate for our sad hearts. The funeral and lunch were at their nearby church in Allendale. On Thursday evening, soon after he heard the news of Dad's death, the church janitor went over to the church and rang the bell 94 times. Dad had served in the Navy in World War II, and at the end of the service this morning, a bugler played taps. At the close of the graveside ceremony, the flag that draped his casket was folded in military fashion and given to Mom with these words:  "This flag is presented on behalf of a grateful nation and the United States Navy as a token of appreciation for your husband’s honorable and faithful service."

Mitch on a Mission

Late this afternoon we picked up our grandson Mitch, 17, at the airport. He was returning with 19 other kids from LaGrave Avenue Christian Reformed Church, after a one-week mission venture in Guatemala. They spent their time building a playground at an orphanage. Hard work from early morning until often 8 at night, but incredibly rewarding. They had opportunity for a couple of hours every afternoon and evening to spend time with the kids. Some of them were as old as he; others were babies. Mitch knew dozens of them by name. Of all his pics, this was my favorite.

Very Sad Day

Late yesterday afternoon when we arrived home we had two messages, both breaking the sad news that Dad had died. His 95th birthday was coming up this summer, but it still is very hard to process such news. I never wept when my own father died. He was 89 and had been in a virtual drug-induced coma because of pain, so I was relieved. Hearing the news of Dad yesterday was entirely different. We had been visiting with them out at their Allendale farm the previous night. Both of them were so chipper and eager to hear our news and tell stories of old times. And then less than 20 hours later he had taken his flight to join his daughter Myra Jean (John's dearly departed second wife) in heaven. Dad is Albert Kraker, John's second father-in-law, whom I've known less than nine years.

Last night we were out at the farm again, this time with the family. Mom, stoic as always, told the story almost matter-of-factly. After we had shared coffee and cookies with them and left the previous night, he had his usual bowl of ice cream and they went upstairs to bed. They woke up as usual, had breakfast, went through the usual morning duties, had lunch, laid down for their usual nap, got up, and got good clothes out to dress for a funeral at church. Mom showered, then Dad. He came out, dried off, sat down on a chair, and she helped him get his underwear on and bound up his perpetually sore toe. He commented that he could not even take a shower anymore without feeling tired. He was sitting right there in the chair and he put his head back and his mouth fell open. Mom asked if he were all right. He didn't answer. She asked again and again and asked if she should call an ambulance. No answer. The Apostle Paul said: Old things are passed away, behold all things are become new---perhaps not in that context, but it fits in this context. If the details appear to be too private to post, all I can say is that to me these details comprise a beautiful story of mutual care-giving that continued for more than seventy years to the very moment of til death do us part. 

Mom's telling the story mater-of-factly does not remotely imply that she does not feel indescribable pain. How often we spoke of theirs as the perfect marriage. Their different personalities blended so perfectly together. Mom is feisty and outspoken, and we adore her. Dad is the gentlest, sweetest man you could ever know---never an unkind word for anyone. The photo makes him look sterner than he actually is. They always tell funny stories. The night before last, one was about son Ivan's taxidermy efforts as a kid. How we laughed. Another story was about an unbelievably ugly critter in Mom's hen house. (She was always the queen of the chicken coop!) Anyway, she was afraid to even go inside, chomping the bit until Dad came home from the field. He arrives home, thinking she's making a big deal out of nothing and simply goes in and comes out carrying an opossum by the tail. It was left to Mom to clean up all the cracked eggs and dirty mess left behind. Oh, what fun hearing that story after so many years in their memory banks. And how we will miss those visits to the farm and hearing those tales of old told by the two of them. We love you, Dad, more than words can ever say.

German Cousins?

I'd like to say there girls are my German cousins, but alas I have no proof of such. You can watch their incredible dance here. I rarely check out such things online, but this caught my attention. Had two women in the shop yesterday from Stuttgart, Germany, near where my father's people are from.

Sunday Night Fiddler and Two Teen Girls

What fun Sunday afternoon to meet Kayla and her best friend Mazie at the Parsley Mediterranean Grill downtown, and then after some wonderful vegetarian fare, wandering over to the Civic Theater to enjoy "Fiddler on the Roof." I recall years ago, as Kayla would sit on my lap playing peas porridge hot, wondering how she would turn out as a teenager. I don't suppose I even imagined that one day as a junior in high school she and her good friend would be having so much fun interacting with us over a meal and laughing (and almost crying) together at a musical. It was very funny as well as deeply moving and sad at the same time. And to think that Antisemitism is still very alive and well today. We need reminders like that.

The Other Worst Billiard Champ

Here is John, in the fine tradition of Harold Worst. We wish we knew more about him and whether he had a pool table in his front room, the first thing you see when you enter our door. Below is a view from above.

Famous Worst Kin

My writing is mostly historical and biblical, not typically personal, but today I included this personal anecdote in a chapter I was working on.

When I married John, the game of Dutch bingo came with him. He plays well, though surely not with me. The game pops up everywhere, most recently when we were purchasing new kayaks. The store manager overheard the name Worst. He moved closer: Any relation to . . . . And so it went. I examined the cigarette lighters on the counter while they named an assortment of Worsts going back through the generations. . . . Harold Worst, his second cousin once removed, was the 1965 world champion 3-cushion billiard player—beat the pants off Boston Shorty (demonstrated by a video easily accessible online). 

Harold John Worst died in 1967 at age 37. Husband John would like me to say that he remembers him fondly, though I might add, very dimly. Truth be told, John's very religious Christian Reformed side of the family regarded pool a 4-letter word, and billiards is essentially the same as pool. John, by the way is playing pool by himself as I write.

Harold looks like a cool guy in this picture, just wish he had a cool "Boston Shorty" nickname!

Catholic News

The top story today is that WE have a new pope. But to me, another story online is actually more interesting. Roger Ebert, like most Catholics in the last few days, is reflecting on his faith. Along those lines, he says this:

 I consider myself Catholic, lock, stock and barrel, 

with this technical loophole: 

I cannot believe in God. 

Goodbye to Biloxi

Tomorrow morning we'll be on our way home after a very productive week of writing as well as a lot of good hiking and biking. We've been staying here at the Quality Inn, which we got at a reduced $60/day rate due to our 5-day stay. I have a lot more writing to do on our long trip tomorrow, and we'll be stopping in Kentucky to pick up some hand-made merchandise to sell at the Gardens. As soon as we arrive home on Saturday (unless we decide to drive straight through for 16 hours), John will visit Mom and pick up some groceries. On Sunday morning we'll be at church (John serving communion), joined by Carlton and Kayla if all goes as planned. Our minister of many years ago from Fifth Reformed Church is now an interim pastor at our downtown church, and Carlton has been eager to come with us and reconnect with him. Here are a couple snaps of where we are staying, one looking out our door to the Gulf. We're on the second floor, and we learned today that the ocean surge from Katrina came up a foot into our room. It's almost impossible to comprehend that as we look out. 

Railing at Jerks!

Railing at jerks who leave behind their trash is a waste of energy. Even if I caught them redhanded they would no doubt ignore me. A better response that John and I seek to put in practice is picking up trash on a regular basis---especially when we are on vacation. Today after spending more than an hour at the computer we went for a drive and came across a wonderful little park right here in Biloxi. We hiked out on a ribbon of a peninsula into a large backwater lake only to find trash along the trail. So we spent 20 minutes each picking up several recycled grocery bags full. Above I am stooped over grabbing a few last things left in the parking area. I would feel fantastic if I could encourage even one person to take up this past-time and to pass it on to someone else. We actually enjoy it, knowing we are doing some little thing to give back to the environment. We always keep garden gloves and recycled bags in the car, and that's all it takes, plus a bottle of hand sanitizer. Here is John on a walkway out into the backwater, and below is the entry sign.

Hiking, Biking, Writing on the Gulf

We made a quick trip down to Mississippi, leaving on Saturday after we closed at the Gardens, arriving Sunday afternoon at our motel right across the road from the beautiful blue Gulf of Mexico. I wrote as John drove on the way down, and today I managed to chalk up 1538 more words. The weather is is sunny and cool, just as we like it. We also hiked and biked, picnicked and snapped some pictures along the way.