Temple Trip

September 24, 2013

Traveling in Tempe means I am close to the Mesa, Arizona Temple - so I went to a session this evening.

Where in the World Is . . .

September 22-27, 2013

Tempe, Arizona

This week I am again in Tempe Arizona.

It has cooled a little since the last trip - we are only in the high 90s each day - and it is cooling down nicely in the evenings.

Again I am teaching for Intel, this time with seven students.

For this trip I actually have plans for some of the nights.

• Monday - Football - Denver vs. Oakland
• Tuesday - Temple Trip
• Thursday - visit with Ed and Sandy
• Friday - Fly home

Boulder County Floods - Our Relief Efforts

Saturday, September 21, 2013

During the week, Mar and I have been involved in different ways with flood relief. 

We house an evacuated family for three days.  It was a sacrifice we were willing to make for the blessing of being spared real hurt or damage.  And it was a pleasant sacrifice to give refuge.

Mat and Andrew and Mylie came down from Evergreen on Monday and helped an older couple clean out water damage from her basement.  It was Mat’s day off and I so admire him for sacrificing and bringing his kids to show them how important service is.  They came away totally grimed and slimed by the experience, but they were happy.

Breanne and a friend came over one day and dropped Elizabeth ad her friends son, Tye, and Mar babysat while the mothers went to a neighborhood to help clean out basements.

Mar went to a friend’s house one day and helped clean up water and mud damage in real hands on mode, dirty, grimy work.

Mar has been asked to keep track of relief work hours in our church's ward area.  And she has been a contact for LDS Church needs and offers of help.

I had to work.  I didn't get to do too much - except cheer on others.

On Saturday, Mar and I did two things. 

·         The first may seem rather trivial.  Brea and Ben organized a cleanup group with three other couples to go work in a flooded neighborhood.  All of those couples had wee ones, so Mar and I spent Monday morning running an ad hoc nursery.  We survived and so did all of the kids.

·         At 11:00 we went to work at the Longmont Flood Relief Center.  This is where people can go to get information about what help is available for cleanup and other vital services.  Mar and I worked as ushers with the FEMA workers.  Our job was to keep people waiting for FEMA registration organized and then take them to a FEMA worker as they became available.  It doesn’t sound very strenuous.  It wasn’t.  But it helped people feel that they were being dealt with in an organized and efficient manner.  We got to talk to people and see how it was run.  The LDS Church was asked to run the volunteer program at the center, so that is why and how we knew about it and were able to sign up.  It wasn’t back breaking lifting like others had been doing, but it was still vital work that needed to be done.  (Mar volunteered at the center for another six hours on Monday.)

It is strange that in most of the city, life is normal, but in the river areas there is so very much that needs to be done and cleaned up and rebuilt.  All little efforts help.

Movie List

September 18,2013

Star Trek: Into Darkness

I like Star Trek.  I like twists and turns.  I like SciFi and visual magic. 

This movie was okay - but maybe a little bit too much.  Too much happened in too little time over vast amounts of time and space.  My head just swam (maybe I am getting too old,)

I liked it. Would I buy it - no.

(Editor's note:  I am disturbed at the number of the body count that seemed to be there just for effect.  I think movies and TV and other media harden us to what it really means when someone dies.  There are people who morn.  There are people whose lives are changed forever.  But to media it is just a storyline.  In the context of this movie - on the Enterprise, if a person wears a red shirt - it means that person has  a good chance that he will die - just to move the story along.  And no one will care.)

( Another Editor's note:  Not that I think the previous note is a new issue - Indians and Germans and Japanese from earlier times have been replaced with robots and aliens and zombies - well maybe a zombie's mother wont cry if her dead son is dead again.  The point is we have nameless and faceless victims who just represent body count and special effect.)

Audio Books

Monday, September 16,2013

Rumpole and the Primrose Path

by John Mortimer

Fun - as the Rumpole books generally are.  Sassy old curmudgeon that he is, he appeals to me.

Boulder County Flood - a Brief Synopsis

While in Boston, I called Margaret and got these reports on the weather:

Monday – it rained, and a lot – it is so wonderful.

Tuesday – it rained again – some pretty good storms.

Wednesday – more rain

Problem was that this wonderful rain set the stage – the ground was saturated when the BIG one came.



Neighborhood flooding in Longmont



A footbridge over Lefthand Creek - it is interesting to not that generally this bridge has 8 feet of clearance over a babbling little brook.

 

Wednesday evening into Thursday morning it rained between 6 and 8 inches in Boulder County in 15 hours.  The ground could not absorb it so it raced as flash floods down the canyons into the cities.

·         Boulder was the first hit because it is at the mouth of a canyon.  It was enough to close down Boulder – including CU.  Boulder got most of the press that day because it was a well known city.

·         In Jamestown, up in the mountains, buildings along the river collapsed claiming the first victim of the flood.

·         In Estes Park up in the mountains, the St. Vrain river went over its banks and flooded downtown and tore up street.  By the end of the flood, all entry into Estes Park was gone – all highways were damaged beyond usability – except Trail Ridge Road through Rocky Mountain National Park.

·         The St. Vrain River then proceeded down to Lyons – accompanied by the contents of a few earthen dams and flooded that small foothill city.  The city was left in shambles with every bridge and many of the roads destroyed.  As the flood progressed, the National Guard was called out to rescue people in Lyons using heavy weight high profile vehicles.

·         The St. Vrain River then proceeded down into Longmont (my town).  On Thursday, all of the bridges over the river were closed.  7000 households were evacuated because of the raging rising water.  To make matters in Longmont worse, Lefthand Creek, the creek that damaged Jamestown and left it isolated, also runs through Longmont to join the St. Vrain just East of the city.  It caused neighborhoods to be evacuated and it closed all of the roads.  These two rivers split the city into three parts and isolated the city from the outside world. Schools were closed an people who were not evacuated were told to “shelter in place”, meaning stay home.

·         Further north, Loveland and Ft. Collins were also having flooding problems on the Big Thompson and Poulder Rivers.

·         Heavy rains also caused flooding in the Denver Metro area and down in Colorado Springs.  But Boulder County was the worst.

It was weird in Longmont because there were parts of the city that were devastated – yet parts of the city were just getting a lot of rain and all was fairly normal.  And no one could really get around in the devastated areas to really see what was going on.

And it kept on raining – and the rivers kept rising and the destruction continued.

Friday – it continued to rain, but not as hard as before – and there were breaks.  The river levels would fluctuate depending on what time of day it was and where it was raining in the mountains.  Things started getting worse in Loveland and Ft. Collins.  I 25 from Denver to Cheyenne, Wyoming was close for fear that the bridges would collapse.  The main roads in Longmont were still closed.  Suddenly national newscasters shifted their focus from Boulder to Lyons, Longmont and Estes park where more damage was being done.  The National Weather Service used the term “Biblical” to describe the flooding.  Normally they use the term”100 year flood”, but “500 year flood was being bandied around.

Some statistics show the overwhelming power of the storm:

·         Average rainfall in Boulder County is 14.61 inches per year.  By Friday afternoon, Boulder Country had received 14.5 inches in 5 days.

·         September rainfall in Boulder County averages 1.6 inches – 1i 15 hours Wednesday night and Thursday morning, Boulder County got 7.5 inches.

·         The most rainfall in a September day before this storm in Boulder County was 3.5 inches – in 1905.

·         The most rainfall ever in one day in Boulder County was 4.05 inches – in July of 1919.

·         And before this storm, the Colorado Front Range populace area was officially designated as a drought area.

And it kept on raining – but the river levels stabilized and some of the evacuated residents were allowed back into their homes.  National Guard helicopters were brought in during any break in the storm for rescue missions into the mountains.  Bridges in Longmont were still closed.

National Guard in Lyons

National Guard in Lyons

 

Saturday I came home from Boston.  And Saturday the storm began to break.  I 25 was open by the time I got home in the afternoon.  The river bridges in Longmont on Main Street and Hover Avenue were opened – where the day before they all had water running over them.  And there were long periods of storm break when rescues could be accomplished.  More evacuated families returned to their homes and some clean up was started.

But it still kept on raining.

Sunday we went to an abbreviated church meeting and then a disaster relief planning meeting.  And during that meeting it rained as hard as it had at any time.  People left early so they could get home in case the bridges closed again.  The rivers rose a little but warning were that rain in the mountains could still bring crests in the rivers in the evening.

And then down river flooding started. Flooding from Lefthand Creek ran into the flooded St. Vrain River. Flooding from Boulder Creek ran into the St. Vrain River.  The St. Vrain River then ran into the South Platte River that was already carrying all of the water from the Denver area.  Then the Flooding Big Thompson River joined the South Plat and then the Poulder river joined the South Plate just before that river reached Greely.  Flooding in Greely was catastrophic.  This crest would continue for the next week as the flood waters crested into other little communities downstream on the plains.

Greeley



Greeley area farm

 

Monday it didn’t rain.  Tuesday it didn’t rain.  River levels receded.  People started cleaning out their flooded homes.  But some cities are just too broken.  Many people from Lyons have been told they will not be able to get to their homes for at least a month.  Estes Park is cut off.  And even though the rivers are back in their banks, they are still at flood level depths.

It is now Wednesday – one week after the real flooding began.  The ground is still very saturated.  The rivers are high –

And it just started raining again – but it was a real good thunderstorm and then it stopped.

How were we affected?

Mar has become a point of contact for our ward in the church.  Our ward has most of the Longmont river flood plain in our boundaries, so we had a lot of concern.  Mar made calls and later became the reporting person for relief service given.

We know a family who was evacuated.  We offered to let them stay with us, so we had their parents and four children staying for a few nights while the water receded in their neighborhood.

The neighborhood where our evacuees live

 

Mat brought Andrew and Mylie down on Monday to help with clean up.  They worked in a flooded neighborhood over by Lefthand Creek helping to clean out basements.

Cleaning up flooded houses

 

Breanne came over with a friend on Tuesday.  They both left their babies for Mar to watch while they went and helped in a neighborhood down the hill from us that was flooded by the St. Vrain River.

We did other little things to help.

 

It has been an incredible week.  When we talk about preparedness, many think it can’t happen here.  That is what we thought.  This was so unexpected and unpredictable.  Cleanup has started and the amount of freely offered volunteer work happening in Boulder County is incredible.  But the damage to the infrastructure is devastating – bridges, roadways and railroad tracks are gone.  And the damage to business and private property is staggering. 

We are blessed.  It wasn’t in winter which would have equated to about 8 feet of snow.  It was warm.  There was immediate response.  One of the great blessings was that Longmont had just finished a 6,000,000 dollar project to prepare Lefthand Creek for flood control.  It was not designed for anything of this magnitude, yet for the most part it still worked.  The Lefthand Creek bridges all held, despite the fact that the river ran over the top of all of them.  The channel hel, despite the fact that it was severely widened.  While everyone laughed and complained about the time and cost, it has now proved to be worth it.

And there is another residual effect.  Whenever it starts to rain, everyone holds their breath.

 

Temple Trip

September 9. 2013

Boston Tempe

Because I was in Marlborough, I drove over to the temple - about a 45 minute drive - for a session in the evening.

 

Where In the World . . .

September 8 - 14, 2013

Marlborough, MA

We have a company office in Marlborough.  Usually I do not go to Marlborough to teach because we have another trainer who teaches the same things that I do and he has family in the area - so he takes most of the Marlborough classes.  However, this week I was teaching something he doesn't teach - so it was my turn.

I do not mind Marlborough.

Audio Books

September 5, 2013

Dead Cert

by Dick Francis

One of his earlier works - published in 1962.  It sets his style of storytelling.  It is good.  I recommend it.

But don't get the copy from the Longmont library for a couple of weeks.  I left disk 3 in the rental car in Livermore - dang the bad luck.

Mini Road Trip

I took time off from work.  Mar took time off from home.  We did a mini trip.

Went to Breanne's and took her a bar-b-que.  Then we took her to lunch at Mimi's.  Elizabeth came to and entertained Grandpa.

Drove up to Mat and Andi's and dropped off a shelf.  Alas, they were not home - they took a mini road trip of their own down to see Erica and Luke.

Drove to the Denver Temple and went through a session.  It was nice to do that with Margaret.

Went over to Aurora and had dinner at Cheddar's.  The only place we like better than Cheddar's is Mimi's.

Went over and visited Erica.  The girls were in bed.  But we got to see baby Luke.

Went home.

All in all a very satisfactory day.

Temple Trip

September 6, 2013

I took the day off work.

Mar and I went on a mini-road trip.  We went to a temple session in Denver.

The closest temple to our home - and the first time I have gone this year to the Denver temple (but the 13th time to go to the temple this year - just elsewhere).  It was very nice to be able to go with Margaret.

Movie List

September 3, 2013
Jack the Giant Slayer

(A few months ago we rented Jack the Giant Killer, thinking it was this movie - oh how wrong we were - worst movie I have ever seen.)

Jack the Giant Slayer is good.  It is charming.  It is engaging.  Yea, we liked it.  I would recommend it. 

There is some "violence" cause giants eat people.  However it could have been so much worse.  They showed constraint.

Luke

Brand New Grandson

Luke Stones Lundgreen
       August 30, 2013
       2:47 AM
       7 lbs. - 4 oz.
       20 inches long
Mom - Erica Lundgreen - my daughter
Father - Richard Lundgreen

Mar went down and spent the night with the girls
Breanne and Michael went own to visit the next day
I didn't meet him personally until Saturday -
       But he was worth the wait.