Tuesday, December 21, 2010

The desert can be wet….

It hasn’t stopped raining for 4 days now.  On the way home from work last night I stopped and took some pictures of the Virgin River, which on a daily basis is just a tiny little stream…but not anymore.

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this has become news worthy in this town and also across the state of Utah…

 

 

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large, very large branches and trees flow down the Virgin River

 

 

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the bike and walking trail is closed because it is covered by the river now

 

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the deer that usually live in the brush will have to find another home, probably in someone’s yard…

 

The rain did not stop….so I skipped out of work and took some more pictures of the Virgin River from another point.  The water is coming from Zions National Park.  5 years ago 13 homes were lost along the bank of the river…dec 2010B 108 Millions of dollars was spent supporting the banks with lava rock which is holding it together….for now….there is usually just a teeny tiny stream in here.  But not today…and it hasn’t peaked yet.

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there is a lot of debris floating along…

 

 

 

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A helicopter overhead is taking pictures of a bridge that crumbled into the flow…

 

 

 

 

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THIS WATER IS VERY POWERFUL….I hope and pray that people are smart enough to stay far away…

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It hasn’t yet peaked to the top of this bridge, if it does I will have to find another way home…

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I will go back to this spot after work to see if there is a park left on the other side of the river…

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Coming to work this morning, even this critter….stopped traffic, I thought it looked like a HUGE RAT, so I called it a river rat….I have NO idea what it was…but no one wanted to run it over…it was UGLY.

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where the river is flowing…use to be a golf course.  The city decided this would be a GREAT place to build an entrance onto the I-15 freeway.  The city has been working on this entrance for 6 months now and it was to open in January.  YA THINK they may  have to change their mind now and just BAG the new freeway entrance?  DUH.  I wonder how much the city engineers got paid for thinking this one up?  In the path of the RIVER????

On a brighter note.  I thought I would end this post with a more uplifting image and verse that I wrote several years ago.  I posted this last year but it is worth reading once again. 

(2004) I woke up in the middle of the night. A melody kept going over and over in my head. I am not musical. I don’t play an instrument, I can’t read music, but a melody kept playing in my head. I tried to ignore it. I tried to sleep, but it wouldn’t stop. I remember looking at my clock illuminating in the dark, it was after 3 am. I closed my eyes and tried to stop the music. Then lyrics came to my mind. Over and over again, lyrics kept coming to my mind. It wouldn’t stop. OK, ENOUGH I said. I will get up and go to my computer. Ever so quietly, not to wake my Huhoney I crept into the office, and opened up a new screen. I was so tired and I didn’t think to grab my glasses. It didn’t matter, the words were coming so quickly now that I couldn’t stop typing. The music kept on and on and on. The words just spilled from me. I closed my eyes while I was typing because the screen was so bright. That’s ok, I can type very quickly and I don’t need to see what I am typing. I was done. I sighed a huge sigh. I will look at it in the morning I thought to myself. I left my desk and went to my bed, it was after 4 am. I laid my head on my pillow and slept a dreamless sleep. When I awoke in the morning I jumped out of bed and RAN to my computer….to see what I had written. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, I began to cry. What had I done? I was typing to frantically last night my fingers were one key over to the left. Yes, every word was a total scramble. There was nothing to my words smf o vpi;frmy frvogrt smuyjomh. This is what every line looked like. Huhoney came to me and asked what had happened and I told him of my night. “Don’t worry” he said, “you will remember, I know you will remember, the spirit will let you remember”. He hugged me. I was so sad. I couldn’t stop thinking, I didn’t want to do anything until I had remembered. Then I prayed. Yep, I prayed. I am not a renowned poet or anything but this was special, the melody was special and I knew I needed to write it down. Even if it is just for myself and my children. Late in the same evening after the day’s events, it all came back to me. This is what I wrote. I wish I could sing you the melody, it is so pretty. But I can’t. I don’t know how to sing! lol

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Sleep; sleep my angel, our Prince of Peace,

The son of God, please don’t you cry;

Sleep; sleep my baby sang Mary’s lullaby

A cloudless night, the stars shone bright

A warm wind blew throughout the manger

The beautiful voice of a mother’s song

The son of God born in a stable

A cry rang out so soft and gentle

A mother’s kiss and this babe lay still

As she cradled the infant Christ child

She so sweetly sang this verse

Sleep; sleep my angel, our Prince of Peace,

The son of God, please don’t you cry;

Sleep; sleep my baby, begotten son,

The chosen one, to reign on high

The night was endless dark but bright

As stars glistened through out the night

And one alone shone over head

To lead the way to a manger bed

Mary held her infant son

As tears of joy washed her face so pure

And Joseph smiled as he watched them both

So sweet a sound her voice was heard

Sleep; sleep my angel, our Prince of Peace,

The son of God, please don’t you cry;

Sleep, sleep my baby, sang Mary’s lullaby

All those who came and knelt in awe,

Knew that they saw the son of God;

And though the heavens praised his birth,

Just one voice whispered in the night

So gentle a sound, so soft, so light

Her lullaby touched all who heard

God’s promise had come to earth

Sleep; sleep my angel, our Prince of Peace,

The son of God, please don’t you cry;

Sleep; sleep my baby, King of Kings

Our Lord and Savoir, the chosen one.

12/14/2004 Linda Higgins

Copyright©

Merry Christmas all my Village Friends…and a Happy, Joyful and SAFE New Year.  I will be up North visiting the “little rascals” this Christmas.  I may find time to post more pics of the flood if I get any new ones….

hugs and smiles across the miles

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I can’t wait to celebrate a New Year with all of you!

8 comments:

Joolz said...

Merry Christmas, Linda and family!
Have a lovely time with your littlies, it will be so much fun.
We will gather with my family for Christmas lunch and then Angus' sister, bro-in-law and 3 nephews will join us for dinner at our house - steak, seafood and glazed ham, pudding and pavlova for dessert - yum!

Cheers - Joolz

Jackie said...

Hello Linda Lu!! Yes, I'm still blogging. I know that you had asked earlier. If you can't get to my blog, please e-mail me and let me know. I don't know if you have changed your e-mail address, but if you have, that could be the reason that you can't access my blog.
Regarding the water...Oh my goodness...and bless the people all around this torrential downpour. This is quite catastrophic, isn't it Linda. And...I do think that is a huuuge rat...probably seeking higher ground.
I love your lyrics to your song....quite gifted you are, my friend.
I always enjoy coming here...and especially to hear from you and read about your day, week, month...and about you and your family. You are a special Village friend. I wish you a very Merry Christmas, Linda....and a blessed new year.
Love,
Jackie

Librarian said...

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and your loved ones, too!
I guess the "critter" is indeed a rat. There are some types of water rat and some called Norwegian Rat or Brown Rat that are about this size and shape. They are not really that ugly, if you look at them close up; they have cute black shiny eyes :-)
It's been raining here, too, and all our snow has turned into brown-grey sludge. I am thinking of investing into a pair of wellies for my way to work...

shabby girl said...

Such a gift that was given to you! Really, it's beautiful!
Isn't the rain incredible? We've been in San Diego for 3 days & are just inundated with rain.
Have a wonderful Christmas!

Diana said...

I loved your song Linda, I actually put it to a melody in my mind. It very much reminded me of one of the hymns in our hymnal! Just beautiful Linda!
I am so sorry about all of that flooding and I hope it ends soon. Maybe by the time you come home. I hope you have a wonderful time with your family and I know that you will. I can't wait to see the changes in your grandchildren. It's been a while since we've seen them!
I love the photos of you and your husband especially the second one, that was really good! Have a Blessed Christmas and a very Happy New Year!!
Love Di ♥

Bernie said...

I do remember ths from last year and it is just as beautiful today.
Weather is really crazy right now, I am in a brutal cold spell, my family in NB are being flooded with rain, even roads are being washed away.
Stay safe my friend and dry.
......:-)Hugs

Eileen said...

I remember your beautiful song from last year, thanks for posting it again, such a pretty Christmas lullabye!

And I can't get over that river! Mother Nature is so scary at times! And puts us in our place. We know who is boss!
Thanks for posting the pictures, but stay safe!

Enjoy your time spent with your family! I hope you have a wonderful Christmas!
Joyous New Year to you and your family!
Love to you,
Eileen

shabby girl said...

Be safe!!! I'm watching the storm to in your direction and it is SO NOT GOOD!!! Prayers your way!