40 days and 40 nights

"it's raining, it's pouring the old man is snoring!"

Apparently my youngest and his classmates tried to run a coupe on nap time the other day by starting this catchy chant! They were soon quieted and all returned to normal, or as normal as things can be when it's been raining and raining and raining.

Now I'm not complaining about the rain. We have been in dire straights here in Central Florida with wildfires and burning bans. I'm thankful that our diligent firefighters are getting a much need break...although some may now be working overtime to rescue people from their flooded homes.

We are very fortunate, our crude but country drainage systems seem to be doing an adequate job. Sure everyone's pasture is flooded and the front yard once again looks like oceanfront property...but I haven't heard of one country home being flooded. The city folk, however, are having a few problems...flooding, water leaking in walls, schools closing, massive amounts of impassible streets. Seems those fine, well designed, highly researched and technical drainage systems just aren't cutting it! Sarcasm aside...we have been hit by an incredible amount of rain. Hurricane Frances dropped around 18 inches of rain when it came through...in the last 3 days we've had over 24 inches. We went from drought conditions to being well over what is necessary to call off a drought!

So what do country folk do after a rainstorm:

We play in the mud! Or at least the kids do. I really wanted to show some full body shots so you could see the full "uniform"...unfortunately, the "uniform" consists of black rubber boots and a birthday suit...I thought it might get me in some sort of trouble (as cute at the little butt cheeks and boots are they should probably be viewed privately and not on the worldwide web!). Both A and I have let them go for it outside when we get home because they have had the worst cabin fever....and because it is quite entertaining!

We'll see where we're floating this weekend...the forecast is still calling for more rain over the next 3-4 days. You'll know where to find us...a rollin' in the mud or canoeing in the front yard!

Music

I've added music to my website. Check it out...for you fellow bloggers..it is oh, so easy! Anyway...I tend to be a person who likes a little soundtrack for the day. Sometimes it's classical, sometimes the blues, bluegrass, folk, rock or jazz. For me music can not only set the mood but express the mood. I hope to have more expressive tunes flowing forth from this site in the not too distant future....happy listening! la..la..la

REMAIN CALM

(And now a moment from me the exasperated citizen of the U.S.)

I've decided to voice my opinion today about the swine flu and it's impending "pandemic"! Everyone, stop and remain calm. Do not run around like a chicken with its head cut off screaming, "the sky is falling, the sky is falling!" Stop, Drop and regain your composure.

We must remember to keep things in perspective. Obviously the media has not found anything interesting to report on the President's current doings and they seem to be tired reporting about the troops overseas. Pirates these days are really old news and no one is really getting that hyped up about conservation pieces. So they've decided to drag out some panic stuff. Really, do the media "powers that be" sit around in their big glass offices and discuss how to get the most drastic reaction out of the American people? I gave up trusting the media to disclose all of the information, or for that matter to relay any information in a truthful format, oh, about forever ago! (Remember that election eve so long ago when the TV news reported the results of the polls on one coast BEFORE polls were closed on the other coast...) Be realistic about the media and how their number one goal is still money (ratings, sales, etc.) Gone are the long ago days of reporting the news because we need to be able to stay informed.

I simply want to stand on the top of the mountain and yell, "PEOPLE, REMAIN CALM, YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE CONTROLLED BY THE MEDIA. HAVE A BRAIN, USE IT!" Seriously, people are concerned about the president and what he's doing...I say the media has 10 times the power of the president.

A few quick reminders....the current death toll for swine flu is maybe around 300. Did you know that 36,000 people die every year from seasonal influenza? Do we ever hear about the influenza pandemic? All right...I'm going to climb off my soapbox and return to my daily happenings.