Santa Rosa Creek

My neighbor who lives right on the creek sent me a video yesterday during the height of the torrential rain. The most striking thing about the video was the fact that it had sound...sound which carried across the street and up the hill when I opened the front door. Water rushing and booming, crashing and splashing. The main part of the storm has passed today and Ozzie and I ventured down to the bridge to have a look for ourselves.

The power of water can be astonishing, especially when we are used to a more mild mannered stream.
When I was a child we lived on Balboa Island, a heavily built up little island off the coast of Southern California. Every morning my mother and I would walk a block or two down to the beach which was protected by a seawall. One morning I got ahead of my mother and arrived to find the high tide lapping against the seawall. I was terrified just because the water was not where I expected it to be and the beach was gone.

Today I could hear the water crashing against rocks and fallen trees as I walked beside it on the street. Between the bordering oleanders I could see rushing brown water erupting in fountains as it hit hidden obstacles.  A giant log was lodged between upright trees, whitewater detouring around it.  Another tree had uprooted itself, it's top snapped off like a toothpick.  Trees that normally stand on the edge of the water are now surrounded by it. I felt just a hint  of that child's terror awe as I stood on the bridge looking into the maelstrom. 

This creek flows into Spring Lake and is controlled downstream by a small dam so it is unlikely that it will ever rise above its banks, but it is still a powerful reminder that when it comes to Mother Nature, we are not in control. The best we can do is respect her.

In other news, the circus in Washington has begun. I really couldn't listen to it, but it did take me back to the days of the Watergate hearings....