Tuesday, January 04, 2005
We're in the middle of the second big storm from California; hopefully this one won't wash Sedona back down Oak Creek again. The Salt River has water in it for the first time in about ten years, consequently the McKellips river crossing is flooded, along with all the streets that dip into the Scottsdale greenbelt, making driving more fun and exciting than usual. Still, this is pretty tame compared to the last wet cycle, which started sometime in the 70's and wore itself out by the late 80's, just a few years after I'd arrived in the Valley. In 1980 or so (I wasn't here and I'm too lazy to look the date up), the flooding knocked out all the bridges but one over the Salt; people who lived and worked on opposite banks were getting up at 2 in the morning to get into the long line that led over the Mill Ave. bridge - I can't imagine what that would be like today, with 3X the people in the Valley now compared to then. Interestingly, since most of last week's rain fell in the Verde River watershed where there isn't much cachement, the media are now blaming our water shortage on the Indians and environmentalists who blocked the building of additional reservoirs. Gee, and here I thought it had something to do with living in the desert.
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I'm back to working on Stardust County arrangments, and coincidentally I got a note from Jeff saying that he'd finally gotten the job offer in Cupertino, so things will eventually be settling down to where we can regroup and work out a new production schedule for the CD. Yay!
1 comments
1 Comments:
As a matter of fact, I DO remember the rains of 1980. I was a runner for the first agency I ever worked at and I can remember having a hell of a time getting out to Mesa so bring stuff to some of our clients. Remember there was no Superstition Freeway yet; it was still months away and then it only went out to Country Club, I think.
The concept of a drainage system was as rare as snowplows at the time. In an odd way though I miss those days. The last real pain-in-the-ass intersection I can remember having to deal with was 35th Avenue and Union Hills, which became a lake every time it so much as drizzled until about 1994. What they did to it to suddenly make it not do that anymore is beyond me.
Now, aside from a major puddle at 31st Ave and Blackhawk after every storm, I can't really think of a puddle problem as long as you don't drive in obvious wash areas where they WARN you to stay away.
TT
