March 9, 2008 in Keepers Log, More Logbook

River rats

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Heavy rains. Flooding on Esopus Creek. Dock called me early on Saturday morning. He was up until 4 AM moving stuff in his yard out of reach of flood tide and moving driftwood and detritus out of his yard with the ebb tide.  He was surviving on two hours of sleep and wondered if I got much sleep. I was short on sleep, but not because I was dealing with floodwaters at the lighthouse. Actually, I was in town for for Friday evening, and flooding prevented me from returning to the lighthouse. In two and half years of living at the lighthouse, this was the first time that I could not safely get back to the lighthouse. I thought that the trail would be passable at that hour, but I discovered knee-deep water at the start of the trail. An unexpected tidal surge combined with the storm run-off. My compatriot Avalon was with me. Feeling adventurous, we pressed on hoping to get to the boat I left at Boone’s dock. I gave Avalon a piggy-back ride to keep her feet dry, wading through the cold dark water.  We discovered that Boone’s dock was submerged. There was no way of reaching the boat without wading through an uncomfortable depth.  Already, I was standing in water up to my thighs. We gave up and turned around.




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