may showers

i tried to go to work today. as we drove along 1A we found ourselves driving slower than usual--looking at all of the damage caused by the past week of rain. we drove over several parts of the road that were completely covered with flood water. so many yards had lakes where lakes had never been before. it was hard to feel an urgency to get to work with all of the devastation around us, so we drove slowly and observed. as we neared ipswich, we came to a road barrier that was up for an obvious reason. except for some SUVs who braved it to pass the barriers and drive through the pond running across the road, everyone else was turning around. j. and i drove up mill road and around the back way to my work. but as we drove up to the large brick buildings, we noticed many people standing with umbrellas outside of The Office, and others walking away. i jumped out of the car and walked towards the back of the building where i usually go in and finally noticed what the fuss was about. our building, usually set on a lovely, lazy river, had raging rapids that had overflowed the walls and were crashing against the doors. i was able to stop a couple people and they all confirmed that The Office was closed till further notice. we drove away in a slight daze. i even called the secretary just to make sure that i was really doing the right thing in driving back home again.

j. and i spent our morning lying on the couch drinking chai and eating my cousin's birthday cake. we went out for chinese around two in the afternoon (crab rangoons, ginger chicken with green beans, pork fried rice). as we drove home, we got more and more curious about the flooding in our area, and started driving from town to town to view the damage. eventually we ended up back in ipswich, staring at the river as it hit the building and poured into the basement. unfortunately, the basement is known as "the stacks" and is where all of the old journals are kept. we looked in the windows in the back of the building and i was sad, but not surprised, to see three feet of water and publications floating or soaking in it. we then walked through the town, and it was so incredible that we stopped at Family Dollar to purchase a disposable camera. i quickly filled the role with 27 images of the disaster caused by the rain and river. a small town full of family-owned businesses and independent shops, it was so terrible to watch as people desperately carried furniture and merchandise out of their stores to try to salvage their livelihood.

we're home now. safe in our three-story apartment on the third floor. we have electricity, food, water, warmth, love, and companionship.

but who knows when i'll go back to work.