What Happened To Our New Driveway??

One of the reasons we got the whole, entire 1/3 of a mile driveway paved, even though it was very expensive, was because Lee would have to go out every time it rained and resurface the driveway. He would also have to try and scrape it in snow storms, but those are few and far between.

It rains a lot! If I remember correctly, 33 inches a year is the average. That is about 3 inches a month, every month. For a girl from Southern California that is crazy wet! Of course, that is what makes Virginia so green and beautiful! And not brown and dry like it gets every summer in Southern California. Summer, better known as Fire Season. This is followed by Landslide Season. We also experience Earthquake Season to help round out the year.

My cousin Saja told me she was sending rain and wind my way from her home in Memphis. I know she loves me so I am hard pressed to understand why she would do such a thing. She is currently going through chemotherapy so the only thing I can think is that she knew Virginia was behind on rainfall for the year and she wanted to help. Or she is demented ( better living through chemistry )and wants me to suffer, too :)

Nonetheless, we had wind that shook the house and then we lost power and then the rain fell. It had been falling for quite some time and then it came in buckets. We have been trying to get the contractor who built the road to come back since October. We had some hard rain then and it was beginning to undercut the side of the drive. We wanted him to come and repair it before it got worse. We called again last month as it was getting worse. I think the grading on the sides of the drive, where it was a pretty steep and narrow canyon was causing the water to flow under the drive rather than away from it. Now that the driveway is ruined he says he will come on Monday. Oh, goody.




The driveway and the street in front of our road was covered with about 1 foot of the mud that was washed from the sides of the driveway and from under the asphalt. Lee had to get the tractor and start scraping it off the road and off one side of the drive so we could get out. I had to use to shovel to get what he couldn't. I love hauling mud and rocks by shovel in the pouring rain.





We also had to clear a lot of debris from the stream that flows under our bridge. Huge logs were across the culverts that went under the bridge. More and more branches were washed down and blocked some of the holes. I was worried one of us would fall in and get lodged under the bridge and drown. Just thinking of that gives me asthma (that is what my mother always used to say she got when she watched Lloyd Bridges on Sea Hunt!). We need to get a grappling hook to throw in the stream with a long rope so we don't have to bend over try to grab things. We used the rake until it broke. I tried to use the shovel, but the water was going so fast it would almost pull it out of my hands.





So now it is clear enough to drive out. The roadbed is buckling and if you get too far on one side or the other, I worry that it will break off and the car will rollover. Can you tell that I am a worrier? Well, I am. So, there.

So now I am in the upstairs office writing my blog. Lee is out resurfacing the back drive, as that is all he can do. I have a beautiful view across the valley on a sunny and cool day with quite a breeze going and I am trying to feel grateful. According to that great Oracle, Oprah, Gratitude is an attitude. It is quite a challenge when my cousin is fighting cancer and it is the first anniversary of my sister's death. But I am working on that. It may take a while.