Over the River and Through the Water

Today, they called and I responded. I was asked to sub for the elementary school. It was a piece of cake and I enjoyed it immensely. After school, I had plenty of energy to go to Merrillville. Because of the ten inches of rain last weekend, most of the thoroughfares to Merrillville have been closed for five days. I have felt rather isolated. I-65 was still closed when I left today. I took some back roads and got to my destination without problems.

While I was shopping, Lynette called me and said she had taken the river road home because it was now open though it had a "little water" on the road. I decided I'd take that way home. When I was ready to start for home, I saw road crews opening the north bound lanes on the interstate. They had been closed since Monday. I took 65 to route 2 and then got off to fill the Durango with fuel. (ouch) Then I drove the short distance to the river road and confidently turned onto it. All was well until I got to the river crossing. A barricade was in my lane of the road and said, "high water". Duh! Lynette said there was only a little water on the road so I barged passed the sign with vigor. It was getting dark which made seeing where the road was very difficult. About forty feet into the thing, I got chicken. There was way more water than I expected and I was suspicious the water was in the process of cresting and that the two hours difference in the time of Lynette's passing and mine were making a huge difference. I stopped short and saw the lights of two trucks stopped prior to the barricade waiting for me to make up my mind. I decided to look out my window and follow the yellow line which I could see through the waves in the road to get me back to dry ground. When I backed around the barricade I talked to the driver of the first truck. He had a big one and thought he could make it. I gave him my best wishes. At that point, I turned in a drive way to turn around. The second truck, a pick up, came around me and stopped in the middle of the road. A guy got out and began to come toward my car. As he got close to me I could see that I recognized him as a guy I've known all my life. A true De Mottian. He was about three years ahead of my in high school and is a life long farmer. A true risk taker. :) I've never been so happy to see Norm and I told him so. He chuckled and we talked about the condition of the water. He said it had been rising all evening. I told him I thought I should go all the way back to route 2 and go a different way home. No, he didn't think so. He told me to follow closely behind him and that we would go very slowly. I trusted Norm. I turned off my lights so not to blind him and followed as close as a scared pup. With Norm at the helm I had great courage. When he got beyond the troubled area, he accelerated and the two of us were out of there.

Those who know me for a lifetime know that I love adventure and sometimes get thrilled with a little risk taking. Tonight was no different. In the end, it was kind of fun, but if Norm hadn't come around, I would have opted for a safer plan even if I would have had to drive ten miles out of my way. I notice that I'm not quite as brave as I once was and I don't like that about the aging process. I have watched the same happen with my dad. I always loved his courageous character...he bordered on risky sometimes. At 88 he doesn't take risks too much anymore. However, my brother came there a couple of weeks ago to find both he and his wife on the roof cleaning their gutters. My brother's only comment was, "I don't suppose you could find anyone who would help you with that!"