12/24/26
Endless downpour.
That summarizes how the weather’s been the last few days. The rain began to fall last Saturday evening, and it has not ceased since. The rain gauge has become completely full; every road heading into our neighborhood has flooded completely; even Dry Creek has become wet again.
From the vantage point of my backyard on Edgebrook Drive, the once pleasant view of a thousand oaks has transformed into a horror. The roaring floodwaters have conquered every grove as far as the eye can see, and they have set their sights upon my home. It seems that every hour the waters creep up ever more.
Today, the neighborhood book club was holding a breakfast-time discussion to get an idea of what our feelings were, comfort everyone’s anxieties, and build a sense of unity in the face of disaster. A common theme expressed among everyone was that losing this neighborhood would be devastating. Even if sometimes we take it for granted, we all hold this community dear to our hearts. It is our home, our joy, our livelihoods. And it isn’t just another neighborhood”. It is one-of-a-kind in this city; a clash of new and old, white and blue, restless and content. No one could simply “move on” if they had to pack up and leave for good
Another point that we found collective grief around was the coinciding of this deluge and the holiday season. It feels just so cruel that we, like everyone else, were alone while the season of joy, love, and spirit was around. The flooding has cut us off from other parts of the city, who themselves are isolated from other other parts of the city. And, despite what you might think, there is little comfort in knowing that everyone else’s holidays are being taken away from them.
Leaving the meeting at around 10:30 am, I saw a slight break in the clouds, which was allowing some sun to glimmer through onto the asphalt. The air was relatively warm for December; come to think of it, that is one of the reasons the flooding has been so bad. It’s being supercharged by melted snowpack. The rain had tapered off into showers now. As my boots splashed through the puddles on the sidewalk, I once again became aware of the noise of the rushing river. A phrase manifested in my mind, “Where do I go from here?” It was relevant both physically and mentally.
