The Great Flood

Beautiful Nashville is underwater.

Our house is safely perched on a hill, so we are staying dry. However, many homes and business in the city are experiencing catastrophic flooding.

Paul and I were driving home from visiting my grandmother in Kentucky yesterday when we first started hearing about the flooding. As we drove down I-65, we started reading tweets about cars submerged in water on Interstate 24. We made it home without incident after a quick stop at the store. I kept my eyes on Twitter and the news, but I wasn't prepared for what was to come today.

Franklin and Bellevue are flooded. Hundreds of people are being rescued by boat. The Cumberland River is about to overflow into downtown Nashville.

What on earth? This is Nashville, not New Orleans or New Braunfels. We don't flood like this.

We are doing this with our own Nashville flavor, however. Wynonna Judd's buffalo have escaped their fence and are wandering around Lieper's Fork. Scores of songs are being written and re-written about the event.

Most of my family and friends are safe, with a few experiencing (relatively) minor basement flooding and power outages. I think the pervasive feeling among those who are safe is a mix of gratitude and helplessness. I know that's my current state of mind. I so want to help, but I imagine the best thing for me to do is stay off the streets and pray. There are trained first responders out there right now helping those in need -- the rest of us will be essential in days and weeks to come, providing support to those who have lost everything.


An event like this is so humbling, especially for a control freak like me. Before and during our trip to Europe I constantly worried about the air travel, wondering if we would be safe. Looks like I was safer in the air than I would be in several parts of Nashville tonight.

If you are in the Middle Tennessee area, remember to stay in touch with friends and keep up-to-date with the news. Just tonight a water conservation warning has been issued; Metro had to shut down one of their water treatment plants.

If you are eager to help, you can volunteer with Hands On Nashville or donate via The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee. If it is safe for you to walk around your neighborhood in the morning, consider checking on neighbors (especially the elderly and disabled) to see if anyone has lost power or needs help.

I hope you all stay safe tonight, wherever you are!

Too Much Fun -- The Perils of a Growing City

Folks, there are entirely TOO MANY fun things to do in Nashville this weekend.
Quick roundup:

• Cause for the Paws - yay for animals!
  
• Preds Game v. Dallas ('Coma will be there! So will Paul and I!)
• Celebration of Cultures in Centennial Park
• Hooprama Hoop Jam in East Nashville

UPDATE: I missed one! Also this Saturday, the Free Day of Music at the Schermerhorn Center.

Oh, and some football team is playing or something.....

Of course, next week will be crazy-go-nuts, too, with Oktoberfest, Southern Festival of Books, and Edgefield Baptist's Fall Festival and Craft Fair in East Park (ghia will be at the fall festival on Saturday, and at the CRAFT event behind Lipstick Lounge on Sunday, October 13!)

Random Updates: School's Out, Music Fest, Dragons in the Waters

Update #1: Follow up to the previous post. Metro Nashville schools are limited to half days for the rest of this week due to the heat. Officials decided to go ahead and make the call for the rest of the week so parents have time to plan for transportation and child care. To help accommodate students who may have no where else to go, all Metro Parks community centers will be opening at 11am on these days.

Update #2: I posted last week about Next Big Nashville. I am slightly less pumped about going now, because a few bands that were originally on the schedule are no longer participating, notably Venus Hum, Bang Bang Bang, Luna Halo, and Sam & Ruby. However, there have been several additions to the schedule, including Satellite City, How I Became the Bomb, and Jensen Sportag.

Update #3: The Dragon Boat Festival is this weekend! Looks like tons of fun.

School's Out for the Summer

So.....Nashville schools are only open for a half day tomorrow due to the extreme temperatures.

[scratches head in confusion]

This seems really odd to me. Is it really too hot for students to learn? Are there not enough fans and air conditioners to keep the classrooms cool? The East Nashville listserve is abuzz with opinions from parents and teachers. Apparently, most Metro school buses don't have air conditioning, and some people are wondering if that is the main point of concern.

But here's what strikes me as strange --

Why now? Why did they decide to do this now, when the days are forecasted to be less scorching than they were last week? Why didn't we see school canceled last Wednesday, when the temperature got up to something like 104 degrees?

To me, this seems like a late effort to appease worried parents.

Weird.

UPDATE: Monday, 12:oopm
Tuesday also will be a half day for Metro Nashville schools.
Last Friday, a student at Hume-Fogg was transported by ambulance to a hospital after become ill due to the heat.

The Heat Is On.....

Got back from BarCamp Nashville a couple of hours ago.

Much fun.

I learned a lot from several of the presenters, the most helpful being Mitch Joel, Ivy Hogan, Kat Coble, Matt Reed, John Ellis, and Anastasia Holdren. Chris Wage and Jackson Miller were very good as well.

I also got to meet some bloggers friends face to face for the first time, including Ivy, Kat, Grace, Hutchmo, Rachel, Lesley, Casey, and Newscoma.

Therein lies the problem.

Now that I have met these people and consider them my friends, I feel like I have to be all cool and stuff. What if I post something lame and they decide they don't like me? What if they discover I'm really not an interesting person after all?

I know this sounds a little (or a lot) codependent and self-absorbed, but it's the truth. There you have it, people. (Note: I'm not trolling for comments here -- I have to be a grown-up and be self-actualizing and all that fun stuff.)

P.S. -- Thank you, thank you, thank you to all the volunteers and sponsors who made BarCamp possible. I really appreciated this experience and can't wait to participate next year. Extra thanks to Sitening for the free food and Griffin for the free swag.

... And Not a Drop to Drink?

Does anybody else have gross water right now?

The water at my house looks okay, but it smells and tastes terrible. I first noticed it last night while brushing my teeth.

I was afraid that maybe something was wrong with the pipes at our house, but to my relief(?) the East Nashville list-serve was abuzz with water complaints. Once person said their water tasted and smelled like lake water, and another person described it as tasting metallic.

Someone else on the list reported that Clarksville residents have been complaining about bad tasting water as well. Apparently there has been an increase in algae in the Cumberland River, exacerbated by the heat and lack of rain, and it has been affecting the taste and smell of the water. So....perhaps it is affecting the water down here, too?

Is anybody else experiencing this?