It’s been quite a week with the flooding all around me and the inability to get to work. Sleep has not been terribly easy for me this week. My CPAP is not providing the quality of sleep I’m used to, and the last thing I wanted to do this morning when my alarm went off was to get out of bed. Eventually, when I hit the snooze button and rolled over to sleep a little longer, Isabella couldn’t take it anymore and decided I really needed to get up and feed her. So, I did, but I did not want to. I just wanted to stay in bed. However, I had to get up, not only to feed Isabella, but also to get ready for work. Hopefully, the roads will be open, and I can get to work. I have several meetings and some tours to give today, so I can’t really work from home today.
Vermont has begun the long road to recovery, but more rain is expected today and tomorrow. Central Vermont is once again in a high risk for further flooding. Hopefully, that will not happen, and Vermont can continue its long road to recovery.
UPDATE: Thankfully, I was able to get to work this morning.
My post this morning was an update about the flooding, but I had planned a different kind of post for this morning. Today marks 13 years since I started this blog. Thank you to all who have read this blog over the years. I have made some wonderful friends who have made significant impacts to on my life, and I am grateful for all of you.
With all of the rain we have gotten in Vermont since Sunday, there has been extensive flooding around the state. If you’ve seen the news, you’ve probably seen some of the devastation in Montpelier. A lot of news coverage has been about Montpelier because it’s the state capital, but there has been flooding all over central Vermont: Barre, Berlin, East Montpelier, Waterbury, etc. There was also flooding in Ludlow, Londonderry, and Middlebury. Towns all along the Winooski, Lamoille, and Missisqoi Rivers have seen flooding. For the moment, we seem to be past the worst of it. On the national news, the reporters in Montpelier were giving dire warnings about a dam that was close to being compromised just north of Montpelier, but by the time they were giving that report the danger had passed a few hours before and the dam was no longer in any danger.
While I was without power all Monday night, I have been fine otherwise. There has been flooding all around me, and all of my routes to work were closed due to flooding. I live on high ground, about several hundred feet above one of the flooded rivers, so I have not been in any danger. Road closures have not been updated this morning, so I am not sure about the status of the roads I’ll need to travel for work. However, the water has receded in n Montpelier, so it will probably be safe to get to work. I’m going to try to get to work, but if anything looks dangerous, I’ll head back home and work from home today.
While the waters are receding and the level of the rivers is going down, there is more rain to come over the next several days. There may be more flooding but hopefully, we are passed the worst of it. Vermont had extensive flooding during Tropical Storm Irene in 2011, but some places have not seen flooding this bad since the great floods of 1927. From what I’ve heard, there have been no deaths associated with the flooding, but the repairs to the extensive damage across the state will be a long, slow, and expensive process. Many businesses have suffered major damage. One shopping center next to me had flood waters up to the roofline. Sadly, that included the Chinese restaurant that I often stop to get dinner from on my way home and don’t want to cook. The full extent of the damage probably won’t be known for several days. Please keep my adopted state of Vermont in your prayers as it works to recover from this devastation.
QUICK UPDATE: Roads are still closed on my way to work, so I am working from home today. Hopefully, I will be able to make it into work tomorrow.
All yesterday it poured, and all night long I could not sleep; the rain unceasing beat Upon the shingled roof like a weird song, Upon the grass like running children’s feet. And down the mountains by the dark cloud kissed, Like a strange shape in filmy veiling dressed, Slid slowly, silently, the wraith-like mist, And nestled soft against the earth’s wet breast. But lo, there was a miracle at dawn! The still air stirred at touch of the faint breeze, The sun a sheet of gold bequeathed the lawn, The songsters twittered in the rustling trees. And all things were transfigured in the day, But me whom radiant beauty could not move; For you, more wonderful, were far away, And I was blind with hunger for your love.
If you have seen the news, you probably know that there has been a lot of flooding in Northern New York and Vermont. In most of the towns around me, there has been some flooding as the local rivers have overrun their banks. Thankfully, I live on high ground, so I am not in any danger, though what the roads will look like on my way to work this morning is anyone’s guess. I will watch the morning news hoping I will hear more about road conditions.
I picked the above poem because the rain began Sunday afternoon and is supposed to continue through the early hours of this morning. Hopefully, it will have stopped by the time I leave for work. It poured all day yesterday.
About the Poet
Claude McKay, who was born in Jamaica in 1889, wrote about social and political concerns from his perspective as a Black man in the United States, as well as a variety of subjects ranging from his Jamaican homeland to romantic love.
It started raining yesterday afternoon and is expected to continue until tomorrow morning. Usually, the rain is not very heavy here, and we rarely get more than an inch of rain at any one time. However, we are expected to get 3”-5” before this rain event is over. We are under flood warnings , but thankfully, I live on high ground well above the nearby river. We’ve also had a fair amount of thunder and lightning.
I say all this because rain and weather/air pressure changes always affects my migraines. I had a somewhat minor one yesterday, but woke today with a pretty bad one. I took my medicine, and I’ll see if it begins to improve. If it doesn’t, I will likely be taking a sick day and going back to bed.
For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.
— Philippians 3:20-21
Never Grow Old By James Cleveland Moore, Sr.
I have heard of a land On the faraway strand, ’Tis a beautiful home of the soul; Built by Jesus on high, There we never shall die, ’Tis a land where we never grow old.
Refrain: Never grow old, Where we’ll never grow old, In a land where we’ll never grow old; Never grow old, Where we’ll never grow old, In a land where we’ll never grow old.
In that beautiful home Where we’ll nevermore roam, We shall be in the sweet by and by; Happy praise to the King Through eternity sing, ’Tis a land where we never shall die. [Refrain]
When our work here is done And the life crown is won, And our troubles and trials are o’er, All our sorrows will end, And our voices will blend With the loved ones who’ve gone on before. [Refrain]
This song has been in my head over the past week. Eleven years ago today, my beloved grandmother went to the land where she “will never grow old.” I have always loved this song. To me, it’s just simple and beautiful. Most people are afraid of dying, and while I hope it’s a long way away for me, if we have faith, there is nothing to fear. Heaven is “a land where we never shall die. The third verse may be my favorite:
When our work here is done And the life crown is won, And our troubles and trials are o’er, All our sorrows will end, And our voices will blend With the loved ones who’ve gone on before.
I’ll be happy when that day comes because I see again, “the loved ones who’ve gone on before.”
“Never Grow Old” usually refers to an old Southern Gospel song of the same name, technically called “Where We’ll Never Grow Old”, written by James Cleveland Moore, Sr. on April 22, 1914. I wonder if he knew that in four short months a war would begin in which millions of young men with so much life before them would go the land where they never grow old. It’s hard for me to think of the year 1914 without thinking of what was about to begin in August of that year.
James Cleveland Moore had intended to become a Baptist preacher. He was educated at Draketown Baptist Institute, Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, and the University of Florida. He received musical training. At 26 years old, while a seminary student at Mercer, Moore visited his hometown church to preach at Draketown Baptist Church. His father, Charles Robert Moore, had led the singing for years. Hearing his father’s voice failing him, Moore knew that he would not hear his father sing much longer due to his father’s advanced age. After returning to school, Moore produced the hymn and dedicated his song as: “Dedicated to My Father and Mother.” The song was not published until around 1930.
Joe
The Closet Professor 