Flood Update (Fri Sept 27)

Last night I received a call asking if I could help clean up houses in Berthoud, a community about 40 minutes southwest of where we live. I said yes and she promised she could find someone to watch Ed, offering to watch him herself.

I ended up making my own arrangements for Ed and drove two other sisters in my ward. We met at the chapel there .. . . such a pretty little town. (My friend Helen's sister lives in Berthoud).

There were about 10 ladies who gathered to help clean two homes. One of the families cancelled, so we all went to one house. The lady in charge, we'll call her "Sister H" is the Relief Society President in the Berthoud Ward. She seemed a little worn out . . . admitted that herself when she asked someone else to say the prayer. She gave a brief introduction to our efforts.

Berthoud lies along the Little Thompson River. There are areas in Berthoud that are unaffected, but those close to the river had a lot of damage. (6 feet of water in the first home Nathan was asked to clean out). Sister H said that FEMA came through but did not stay to offer help in the clean up process. Members of the Berthoud ward went to the lowest lying areas to ask what help was needed. Essentially they told each of these families that if they would choose a day, our stake would supply extra help.

We followed her in our cars so that she could stay longer--because she knew we would probably have varying levels of time availability. She said we also needed to follow her to get to the home, because putting it into a GPS would take us over bridges that were closed. I was sure she was right about that little fact, especially when we went past a "Road Closed" sign.

The family whose home we went to this morning was expecting 3-4 people. But remember, one household cancelled, so all of us showed up. We were more than a little overwhelming. In about two hours, we mopped the main living areas of the home and cleaned everything that touched the floors with a bleach solution. The carpet had been removed earlier we were cleaning tile and cement. They had already mopped before--our purpose was to disinfect with bleach. You would not believe how quickly the mop bucket would be brown & cloudy. It was nice to work together and in a short time we got a lot of work done. It would not have been possible without as many helpers. Laundry was folded, toys were wiped down, dishes washed, and hope renewed.

There were three children there . . . close to the ages of some of my own. I wonder what they've thought & felt the past couple of weeks. They still had their smiles.

I took time to talk to the family. The owner said that his house is normally 17 to 17.5 feet above the river. He said it rose 18 feet & crested 4 times. The crests came when reservoirs were failing. One of the crests was a 2 and 1/2 foot rise that came and went in under an hour. He's owned that property for 30 years . . . so he wasn't there for the 1976 flooding. As we were leaving he was talking about lots of equipment he owned which was now gone.. . . and said, "It's all just stuff."
"The important things, the ones on two legs," he said, gesturing to his grandson nearby, "Are still here and walking, and that's all that matters."

I would have liked to stay a little longer, but we had to get back to get Ed. It was a great experience to be invited into their home to help them for a little while.

There are projects the next 3 weekends helping families in this same area. Saturday morning at 9 am. 

Flood Update (Thurs, Sept 26)

I was asked to serve again at the Loveland Flood Relief Distribution Center. At first I said no, then I went to church, taught this lesson on rescuing the handcart pioneers, and felt like I should say yes. They called me later to say they had enough people, but I still felt I had to go.

Because it was during the week, I took Eddie with me. In some ways, it was great to bring him, (He's cute and there were no other children there--so he's a great conversation starter), and in other ways not so great. He drank a LARGE gatorade in about 45 min. The next 45 min we went to the bathroom 4 times!!

But, what most impressed me about this period of service (He lasted about an hour and a half), were the people I met. I ran into a FEMA agent (in the bathroom, of course), and I asked where she lives. She's from Maryland but will stay here until November. Ten people are on her team--all from Maryland. CRAZY!!!!! She's young, of course, but that's a long time. I was impressed. She was in charge of entering data about what was coming in and going out of the center--she said about 100 people per day were being served.




Then, in the break room, I struck up Ed struck up a conversation with two Red Cross workers. They actually struck it up, Ed did not want to say a single word.
I asked where they were from, one was from Missouri & the other California. Probably men my dad's age, they were volunteering on 2 week shifts--the Red Cross pays for their lodging but they are unpaid volunteers. I did not ask who paid for their travel, but I'd like to know. . . .They were very kind and wished me the best. That is selfless service. The assignment was to deliver supplies from Denver to outlying relief centers. They had a Penske moving truck full of donated items: flat shovels, tarps, coolers, etc. for flood victims. They said there were locations they were supposed to deliver to which are still inaccessible.

I saw an acquaintance from church in the "store" section. She was holding a baby while a mother used two hands to shop. She also had another child in the cart. I can't imagine the stress . . . .

I set my keys down in the bathroom (where else?) and someone found them and kept them in a safe place until I remembered them (which was right before I left).

One of the volunteers we had seen on Sunday was there again. She said she'd been every day except Tuesday, when she had to go to work. (Tidbit for my veterinarian family members: she works in the Lab at CSU doing CBC's, etc.) She knew where everything was and where it needed to get to.

The distribution center will not be accepting donations after this Sunday, Sept 29th. I am not sure what their plan is, but it seems that they will be scaling back. I haven't heard of other opportunities to help since Sunday. While I was there, I saw at least 20 people from my stake.

Although we weren't able to stay very long, it was nice to be with these individuals who are giving of their time and energy to help.

Two more things:

There's a great article from the Loveland news about this disaster relief center. Link HERE.
I like that the FEMA representative, John McGowan said, "This is the best-organized, most efficient recovery center I've ever been in."

Marc Udall, Senator, came to tour the center on Sunday. He was not there when we were, but if you are interested this video shows a little more about what it's like. The lady in yellow in the video is in charge and every so often she interrupts everyone's work to shout out a thank you.

Flood Update (Sun Sept 22)

This week we were asked to help with two projects: cleaning up the yard of a business and volunteering at the Loveland Flood Relief Disaster Center. We were unable to help with the business cleanup because of a prior commitment, but I am scheduled to go to the Disaster Center in a few days.

The stakes surrounding the hardest hit areas are assigned a neighboring stake to help, which I believe I already mentioned. Cheyenne is helping us . . . 75 men from my dad's stake were down yesterday helping in Berthoud . . . . Denver is helping Boulder--it's all very organized. 

Today we had no meetings or commitments and decided to go as a family to see if we could be helpful at the Loveland Flood Disaster Relief Center. It was delightful. We invited a bunch of friends to come and two of our children's friends were able to come with us, and one of the moms.

We worked from around 2 pm until 4:30 pm. Individuals and groups have donated items and the volunteers are working on sorting them to set up a "store" for flood victims who need help. I am not sure what the qualifications process is, but they are invited to take clothing, shoes, hygiene, baby care, and food.

It was impressive. We saw individuals representing FEMA, American Red Cross, Americorps, and individuals and families who wanted to help. I did not take any photos of the "store," but I will say that it is well organized. We did not see many there shopping, but there were a few. One man, who said he's volunteered every day last week said yesterday there were approximately 400 who came through, but he wasn't sure if that was individuals or families.

See those yellow vests? Left from those people is the "receiving dock" where families dropped off donations.

After the volunteer crowd died down a bit . . . the "store" is on the other side of the curtains

Labeling boxes to sort clothing donations

Transporting sorted clothing to another area for temporary storage until the "store" needs re-stocked

I teach Sunday School and today the lesson was on rescuing the Martin & Willie handcart companies. We had lots of talk about reaching out in service--to the handcart pioneers & flood victims. One lady, who'd been to the disaster center earlier in the week said, "Not all the people wearing 'Mormon Helping Hands' vests are members, so it gives you a great opportunity to talk about that if they aren't."
I tried that trick, I approached a man who'd been working near us and asked if he was Mormon. He said he was not, but did not seem bothered to wear it . . . . which is great. We welcome visitors.

During our regular church meetings today, we were told that the LDS church sent 3 semi's full of supplies to this disaster relief center. Our stake president worked as a liaison with the City of Loveland and the Church to find out what was needed. And then, it came.

Being close to those flood waters but not affected by them will give our family many opportunities to serve. It will bring us closer to our neighbors and help us remember what's truly important.
Today's service will be a happy memory for our family--there are many days ahead to serve & we are grateful to be a part of it.

Flood Update (Tuesday, Sept 17th)

Took this from the Gateway Baptist Church's Website so you could see the water . . . which has receded even more than this photo shows

 Nathan works with the young men at church and wanted to use the weeknight activity for flood recovery. He used a link from Just Serve to contact the pastor at Gateway Baptist Church, Loveland, CO
to see if they could come help.
(Just Serve has different daytime shifts available for serving there, but the young men & leaders needed an evening shift).

Click on the link above to see some of the photos of their church building and the flooding.
They had at least 2 feet of water inside. Also, their church website found HERE: has a flooding update. They seem to be making steady progress--over 125 people showed up to help on Monday, and more today.

Tonight the deacons from our ward, and the entire young men's group from a neighboring ward, went to help. Other volunteers had brought the muddy, upholstered chairs, outside for cleaning. They were clean and drying outside in the sun when Nathan called, so the pastor said that the boys could help carry them in. He estimated there were 35 or so from our church who formed a fire line and brought them in and then hauled them upstairs. He said the ruined carpet is out, the subfloor is showing, and they've made a lot of headway, as you will read about on their flood update.

I asked Andrew about it and he said, "Their chairs are heavier than ours and they don't fold up." I asked if he had fun, and he said yes.

My brush with jury duty

I was summoned to jury duty on Sept. 16, 2013, a day when my kids were scheduled to be out for teacher collaboration. I asked my mom to come be with my kids, hoping I would only be gone a couple of hours. This was the first time I'd ever been asked to report, so I went in knowing very little.

I left our house around 7:15 am. When I arrived at jury duty, I found out that an acquaintance of mine was also there. We sat and waited together--it was helpful to have something with whom to chat. Our group was too large to all fit into the courtroom at once. This was clue #1 that things were not going to be smooth. My friend was called up to the courtroom in the first group, and I stayedClue #2 was that they told us our group was much larger than normal. . Clue #3 came close to noon when the judge announced it would be a criminal case, lasting 4-5 weeks.

After that announcement, we were released for lunch and told to report to one courtroom if we wanted to discuss a hardship with the judge, and a different one if we had no hardship. Earlier in the day, the clerk alerted us that if we thought we had a good reason, we should discuss it with him, because once the jury was chosen, it would be too late.

I decided at that point that I had to talk to him. I went on my lunch break (nearly 2 hours), ate a sandwich, fabric shopped at my favorite Old Town store, and explored Old Town by myself. (I forgot the piece of advice to brings something to read. Those who had something to read were much more content waiting).

At 2:30pm we reported and found that there were a large number claiming hardship. It got a little ugly waiting . . . people upset about who would be called next, etc. At 4:00pm I counted close to 70 of us still waiting to speak to the judge. At 4:40 he came into the courtroom, said there would be 10 more called and the rest should report Tuesday, the 17th. My name was the last one on the list.

As the 50-60 others left, the tension in the room decreased dramatically.

I went in and said that my main concern was the length of the trial. "I have five children, one who is home full time with me."
"You are a stay at home mom?" the judge asked.
" Have you thought about bringing in help?" one of the lawyers asked.
"Yes, but I haven't  . . . , " I replied.
She pressed on, "Are there people who you could ask to help . . . they could drop your children off and you could bring them home?"
I said, "Yes, I have done that. But the length of the trial . . . "
The judge interrupted and said, "It would be possible for you to be here, but I am not going to go any further with this." Then, he thanked me for my time and dismissed me.  I liked him a lot, and even more when he told me I was done. It was 5:15 p.m.

I thanked them for consideration of my circumstances and hopped, skipped and jumped out of the room.

Jury duty is serious business. I know a lot more about what to expect and hope I'm not called for a criminal case anytime in the near future. I have no idea how my name got on the list of the last few to speak to the judge, but I am so grateful it was only one day.

Flood update (Sun Sept 15th)

This morning we had church at 9:00am. One of the speakers who'd been invited did not come, because it was raining this morning and she would have to cross the Big Thompson River and did not feel comfortable not knowing if she'd be safe. (It was raining pretty hard that early, too).

Our high councilman spoke about the proceedings at Stake Council this morning. He said the flooding was the only topic addresses. Our stake has been divided in two groups: wards that flooded and those who would be asked to make donations. My ward had very minimal damage. . . . I mentioned in my last post that we are on a hill, but what I really meant was a plateau. Most of my ward is on this plateau & sustained minimal damage.

He delivered a message about the General Conference in Salt Lake City when the residents were asked to go get the handcart pioneers in Wyoming and bring them in. He likened our situation to that, and asked that we give donations of baby supplies (formula, food, diapers, clothing), non-perishable foods, and basic hygiene items (soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, washcloths, etc).

He advised us that we could use the time after meetings were over to go shopping for these items or bring what we had at home. We only contributed things from around our home. It felt great to have these things around in case of our own emergency, but even better to give them away to people who are in dire need.

Shopping in our basement and closets . . . pretty good haul

Nathan went to deliver our things and said that the tables they had set up to collect were quickly filled--a constant stream of people pouring in and out delivering needed supplies. Later, he spoke to a member who said that the combined contributions filled two trailers.

The items will be delivered to a distribution center in Loveland to be used in the coming days and weeks.

We woke up to more rain . . . which was not predicted to fall until 9 am but started early. It's done now, at 5 p.m. My mood is significantly altered by the presence of a sunny sky. It was so nice to have the sun all afternoon FR and most of yesterday. This morning was harder with the rain. No rain

Our stake, the Loveland, Colorado Stake, has been assigned to ask for help from the Cheyenne East Stake if we need manpower to meet needs that our stake cannot handle. Each of the other stakes in our area, Boulder, Longmont, Greeley, Fort Collins, have similarly been partnered with another stake. I love knowing that there help has already been assigned. 

We will make it--it will be interesting to see which roads are worked on, and which ones will not be repaired.

My parents had some more flooding (BOO!) and I am supposed to appear for jury duty tomorrow. Never a dull moment.

"Biblical" flooding

This is what scares me the most . . . . erosion, makes that road look like a cracker

Our basement is dry and we are in no danger of flooding at this point. (We live on a hill).
My parents had a small amount of water damage in their basement. We've experienced emotions of guilt at not experiencing more personal loss . . . the damage this flood has caused throughout our state will be felt for a long time. It spread hundreds of miles and affects millions of people. We will have opportunities to serve.

The Coloradoan, our local paper, posted an aerial view of many areas in our county. If you click on THIS LINK, you will arrive at the Coloradoan homepage. About one third of the way down, there are some videos . . . one of them is titled "Aerial tour of Fort Collins, Loveland flooding."

Nathan's office is the green roof at 1:24 in the video. . . . the parking lot that's almost completely submerged. There was water on the east and the north. Around 50 people bagged 7 tons of dirt yesterday morning to prevent penetration. So far, it looks like the water has stayed out, and it has receded today to leave the parking lot dry.

We were not the hardest hit, by any means, but seeing this video brought home the damage a little more.

School was cancelled on FR. The kids were elated to stay home. I don't think they understood the magnitude, so we watched the news together last night--then they knew a little more.

The photos tell the story really well . . . destruction everywhere. I was in Lafayette, CO this morning. One of the Boulder residents told me that of 50 bridges in Boulder County, 30 were gone. Washed away. I crossed both the St. Vrain and Big Thompson rivers on I-25 and was surprised to see with my own eyes how high the water is. Lots of people out taking pictures and a big slow down in traffic as everyone slowed down to see.

If you want to see more . . . there are thousands. I grabbed the one above from the link below. You might laugh, you will be shocked, you might cry. Take time for the captions.
9 News Photo Gallery

A couple more facts . . . the average rainfall in our area is 12-15 inches. Many communities got nearly that much in 24-48 hours. The other interesting tidbit is that one inch of rain is comparable to 10 inches of snow . . . for example Red Feather Lakes, who had 14 inches in these storms, had the equivalent moisture of 140 inches of snow--well over 10 feet.

It's going to be an interesting school year. . . day before Labor Day weekend was cancelled due to excessive heat in UN-airconditioned buildings, this Friday for excessive rain . . . guess what's coming next???
SNOW!

More to come as Colorado re-builds.

 

Labor Day Adventure

During the summer of 1995, I worked at a camp in New Hampshire. The story of choosing that camp is a long one, but a good one if you talk to me in person. It is called Camp Calumet Lutheran, and if you want to know more about it, click on the name earlier in this sentence.

Every three years they hold a reunion for the staff members who worked there in the 1990's. I was invited to attend and we decided it would be fun to take Andrew & Bryn there. The price of plane tickets and distance did not make it an attractive option to bring everyone. We enlisted my mom to help and made our reservations.

We left on Friday and came back Monday. It's a short time to go so far, but it was worth going.

Looking away from our tent

Road on the property

Family by the lake

Approaching Camp from the lake

Camp road

Memorial garden

Random granite or marble on our hike

Jackman's Ridge (a 10 min hike from Camp, owned by camp)

Hike

Bryn's footprint photo

Frisbee rescue attempt

Frisbee rescue success

Playing on the beach

It was nice to see people I haven't for a long time. We are all older, many with children, all with daily work, many with spouses. The site is beautiful. It rained about 5 inches while we were there--which illustrates why it's so green. We were very unprepared for that kind of moisture. Next time.

We enjoyed tying a quilt, playing frisbee, riding in a canoe, on a pontoon boat, playing basketball, attending a Lutheran service in the outdoor chapel, a gong meditation session [more than one member of our family may have fallen asleep during this], singing camp songs, and visiting with friends. Nathan won the 5 K race.

There were lots more photos, if you are interested, click HERE.

The view

We may or may not have surprised our babysitter.