I'm Still Not Out of the WOULD's

Every morning I wake and wonder if that point in the levee is going to hold. I wonder what's going on under the water. The River is rushing so fast; is the bank eroding in the depths below? Cappy and I have discussed this at length, much to his exasperation. Despite all his best efforts, unfortunately, he can't make me believe all is well. I still feel 'in harm's way'. If all is going according to the Corps of Engineers' plans, I asked Cappy why am I still thinking that the "V" is vulnerable to erosion. He sez I'm always having "ditzy thoughts". He must know me after all these years. I keep thinking, in my 'ditzy' pondering, about that very sharp point which the high flood water has to make, and right at the sharpest point it's got to be at it's fastest and most powerful. Not sure what the science of this is, but it's something I think I inately understand. So, again, I wonder what's going on that can't be seen from the surface. And how long can it hold? It's expected to be rushing like that for a couple more weeks.--- And thus, I'm still unsure about what I want to do, if anything. I was thinking it would be nice to take advantage of the situation and go visit Sookie, high and dry in Kentucky. We've had a lot of family members and friends who have graduated this year and Cappy has always been very generous, which is the right thing to do. We still have a ton of medical bills for MarkyBear. All this makes it financially impractical for me to take the dawgs and go 'tra-la-lahing' off across the country dropping money all along the way at gas stations and hotels or campgrounds.--- I thought well, maybe I would like to, instead, find a campground on high ground close by.--- To get a better perspective of what the Mississippi River is actually doing over there in our back yard, so to speak, yesterday I thought I would take the dogs and go take a few pictures of the situation. The news 'talking heads' on television have been saying for everyone not to drive on the levees, and to stay off them. Where we live, as I drove along on River Road, I saw so many people hither and yon up there, I thought, "Well, maybe the authorities wouldn't mind if I did a quick peek with the video camera. So up I went,(walked) then today I made a (SHORT, shakey) video and put it on youtube. (I'm having FITS with our video makers since we got the new computer...it put my voice on, that I took off, it put words in the wrong places after I meticulously edited it and it all looked good, so I sent it to youtube, where it's a MESS. I'm not sure, yet, how to delete my own videos on there...sighhh) I would take the time right now to try to redo it, but I'm not gonna. So here that mess is anyhow: http://www.youtube.com/user/cappyandpegody then, once at youtube, click on "Swollen Mississippi" video (the awful one...sorry). ----I was on the phone with Cappy at the time telling him about the view, from up the River. He's way down at the bottom of the River just now. On the news, too, they warned everybody that there were a lot of snakes and alligators around because of the high water, and to really watch out for them. When I got on top of the levee, I was stunned to see a gathering of people playing in the water! I didn't notice one of the big red dogs dragging something out of the River, until I was home looking at the videos. What in the heck did that dog carry out of the water? The people aren't even paying attention! And there were kids in the water! I shook my head and went back down to the SUV, where the dogs were sticking their heads out the windows watching. As I got in to leave, I noticed a man standing in back of us, apparently writing down our license plate number. I wasn't on the levee, but at the bottom of one of the access roads. I got out and asked him about it. He said that he was supposed to report license plate numbers to the authorites. (oh oh.) He asked me my name and where I was from. This is such a close knit community, that everyone is related somehow, and there are only a handful of names in our town. When I told him my last name, he asked, suspiciously, (I have a Yankee 'accent' remember) "You're from here, ehhhhh?" See, our name is not from around here. I told him that we live across the street from Jude and Sonia, and immediately, he knew I was ok. Like everyone in our town, everybody knows and deeply respects them. I apologized for being on the levee, and told him that I was taking pictures for our blog, where we write about 'everything South Louisisana'. He was a very nice gentleman, doing a good civic duty for our community. I wonder how many times he had to come out of his house on that Sunday...day of rest, trudge across the road and tell people not to stop there or go up on the levee. I did tell him about the people up there swimming. He was astonished. "Swimming??!" I shook his hand, got in the SUV, Cappy still in my earphone, and pulled out, with Mr. Jasper heading up the levee to take care of the situation. As I only just got down the road, I looked in my rear view mirror and saw a sheriff's car coming around the bend and pulled into the spot I had vacated only moments before. Cappy said, "Tuck in your tail and just keep on going, Peg". Well, I like that they are all on the ball over there by the levee. It's a little more reassuring. Here I'm worried and I don't live right across the road from the River like Mr. Jasper does. Bless his heart for volunteering like that. I'll bet by the time he and that sheriff were finished with those people, they got out of there for sure. ---So. As my Mom would say, "Here we sit in silent bliss....", 'butsept', I'm not so silent. When I looked at the River, it didn't seem to be as high as in 2008, but then I couldn't actually get to the same site, without fear of getting in trouble for real this time. If that "V" broke right at the point, people I care about would be in danger before I would. If that happened, the river would empty itself right here...why would it be compelled to complete the bend, if it could escape the levee right there? That 'V' is farther away than I had first said. Another thing Mom used to say when frustrated was, "coulda, woulda, shoulda".--- I watered the garden tonight, will pick beans tomorrow, I've got important papers "up" and ready to go. I guess Cappy's right, I do think "ditzy thoughts" more than I care to admit. I just want to be ready to do the right thing whatever happens, or if nothing happens. I feel so badly for those people over in the Achafalaya River Basin, who aren't uncertain about what's about to happen. They need our prayers.

But I still dont' know what to do. Don't you just hate indecision? As for our area, I hope all will be well. Knock would.