Lotsa water

I paddled my boat today for the first time in twelve days.  The layoff had been caused by both the little virus I had last week and some holiday travel to visit family.  The unfortunate thing about it is that I missed some balmy weather to paddle in: the Memphis area saw Fahrenheit highs in the 70s for most of last week, but today it was a much more seasonable mid-40s while I was on the water.

I paddled for 60 minutes, and concentrated hard on rotating fully and using my legs.  Generally I felt pretty good, although my right shoulder, the same one that was bothering me back in the spring, has been feeling a bit weak and sore.  I might have tweaked it while moving some heavy hickory lumber around in my workshop yesterday.  I probably should re-start the little rubber band exercises that helped it last time.

The big news in Memphis right now is some impending flooding on the Mississippi, the result of the huge storm system that moved across the Midwest Sunday and yesterday.  The current forecast says the river will crest at 43.5 feet on the Memphis gauge on January 9.  I'm hoping that figure will be revised downward a bit over the next few days, to minimize the impact on the lives and homes of people in our community.  Mind you, most Memphians will not be affected in that way: the city sits up on a bluff, beyond the reach of anything shy of a truly biblical flood.  So those thoughtful people who are concerned for my safety should rest assured that I don't foresee any problems whatsoever.  But there are some vulnerable areas, especially in the basins of the tributary streams.  The Mississippi backs up into those basins when it's in flood.

Today's level was 27.3 feet.  That's fairly high, but nothing we don't see practically every year.  The official flood stage on the Memphis gauge is 34 feet, and the river is expected to exceed that by New Year's Day.