He left me at 5:45 am on a rainy September morning in 1991 with the unforgettable words  “I am sorry but I have to catch my bus and the basement has flooded. I love you”.

I nursed our three-week old daughter, fed her brothers who were three and five years of age and waded through the 6 inches of water to the front door. It was a school day and I had to get my eldest to his ridiculously painfully slow one hour gradual entry to kindergarten.

We stood in the rain under an umbrella outside the kindergarten class like cattle waiting for the door to open. My daughter was held under the arm which also supported the umbrella. My other hand was clinging to my three-year old as we watched his brother race around in the rain with two boys who he still calls friends. One of the other mothers who I had met the day before came up to me with an envelope smiling. She said she thought of me when she saw it the newspaper and brought it for me. I thanked her and took it with the two fingers which weren’t already occupied.

Once my eldest was safely ensconced in his one hour class, I hurried back to the car with my two damp children.. The umbrella had long ago given up its supporting role and was thrown in the back seat along with the muddy receiving blanket. Once home, we sloshed through the 6 inches in the front hall, climbed up the stairs and collapsed on the couch for the half hour we had before we went back to the school to retrieve the scholar.

I really had no idea where to begin cleaning out the main floor. The water was coming up the storm drain on our driveway and down our front stairs.  I had two children who couldn’t be left unattended while I mopped up the mess. I looked to the gifted envelope under my daughter  and I opened it for a little treat from my new friend. Inside was a 50% off coupon for weight watchers.

My point is that it really rains hard in the fall on the West Coast. All evidence of the summer drought is gone. We have had torrential rains this week and more to come. There are rivers running down our new driveway garden. The dog is constantly covered in mud and I am sure trees are going to start falling on the island if we get the  57 km per hour winds gusting which have been predicted for tomorrow.

There is an upside to the wet rainy weather we have on this isolated island on the BC West Coast.  Our grass is already growing on the driveway, we are in for some great storm watching, E and I don’t have a basement and my new friends have

no newspaper delivery.