Real rain!!

What a glorious rain storm we had. We had 7’ of rain at our house between when it started and 6pm last night. Everywhere was soaking wet and water was running all over the place.

We went to Redwood Valley on Saturday afternoon to attend a friend’s mother’s memorial. We took the new RV because we knew from past events with this family that it would be better to stay over than drive home. Given the quantity of rain that came down overnight it was the right decision. I woke a few times in the night and the quantity and intensity of the rain never seemed to change - it just poured.

When I drove down the hill from our home I looked at the Navarro River - despite what rain we have had it was still pretty sad looking. On my way back home yesterday I stopped and looked at the swollen river - bank to bank in 24 hours! Glorious. I wasn’t the only one to stop and gawk - so many of us love this river and have been pained to see it suffer with the drought; I believe folks were stopping throughout the day to take a look.

I stopped this morning again took some photos; one thing I noted was the erosion caused by the power line decimation. I’m surprised they weren’t required to spread straw and plant grass seed like anyone else would be. The amount of silt that fed into the river is not insignificant.

The photos above, left to right: a view of the south side of the bridge; looking south from the bridge; looking north from the bridge; PGE erosion into the river.

I hope this is a sign of the rains to come - my father always said the rain that matters is the rain we get after the new year. At least this puts the fire season to bed and that is something.