Water overrun

Friday night, Chicago had a torrential rain. Some areas measured seven or more inches of downfall. We were hit badly. Usually the problem is a flooded basement—and that's often the problem we get. Seepage runs in from our walls and we get water congregating in the middle of the floor. Nothing bad. And the shop vac usually gets rid of it pretty easily.

But this time, it came in overhead. Oh, yes. Overhead. Drip, drip, drip, in the kitchen. Something was coming in from the overhead tiles. A pot collected the water until morning. Then in the light of day we discovered a closet upstairs ruined by water damage that had come in along the chimney. Probably along the some fissure that developed along the edge through a hole in the flashing. Nothing big that a roofer can'f fix in a jiffy. But the closet is another thing.

Fortunately most of the mess destroyed in the closet was a bunch of clothes and junk that we should have tossed out long ago. Many of the clothes were things that I had dithered about giving away, but never did. Well, guess what? Now they are history! Some are objects that were given to me, I never liked much, so I stashed in the closet. No one's going to remember giving me that stuff, so there's an easy way to pitch it all.

Our essential papers and pictures of my son when he was a baby? Fortunately saved! My shoes? Saved! But the dry wall is going to have to be replaced and that's going to be a mess.

Look at it this way. Things could have been much, much worse. Our neighbors down the street obvously had a major basement flood, because their had wadded up basement carpet with their Monday garbage. Gottta be a mess.

And an apartment building in downtown Chicago, right on the Chicago River, managed to have its parking garage totally flooded. Somehow diesel fuel got into the chlorinated swimming pool (don't ask me how), creating a toxic gas. Result: the entire building had to be evacuated.

As I say: could be worse.

Our roofer can't make it till next week. Lots of roofs to repair. The weather report is calling for for more rain this week. I think we need umbrellas in the closet.