The rain has left all the local yards lush with grass, no matter how soon it is mowed. When our neighbor's sons showed up, I expected the roar of the real estate son's machine. But no, they left after considerable work and the front yard was a showcase for the nitrogen found in rainwater.
The mystery was solved when Sassy and I walked home from our book distribution trip. I am the source of inexpensive Chilton repair manuals. Ranger Bob ordered one for his co-worker, and I got one from "the useless Internet - except for books." It was brand new and a bargain. We spotted a Haynes for $500 but bypassed that. The useless Internet is also handy for bargain military and theology books. I was going to give my copy of Alias Shakespeare to a member, but found it easier and faster to use Alibris. Plot twist - the Earl of Oxford wrote Shakespeare and used the actor as his front-man.
Sticking out of the ground was a black plastic drainage pipe, which I often see at hardware stores. Behind the pipe was the mark of digging from the backyard to its opening. Perhaps the water was backing up more in that backyard than mine.
Multiply this many times over, and one cause for floods is obvious. People used to tolerate standing water in the fields and ditches, but now they are inclined to lay drainage materials out to move the water away, downstream. Local levies also raise the level of rivers and transfer the flooding to a southern location.
We have been near - but not in - various floods - Moline, Midland, St. Louis, and New Ulm. People worry about our flood warnings, but our street drains down to Scott, which slants down to White Road, and then even lower.
