Enough with the rain already!

Not in any way to minimize the effect that Florence is having on the Carolinas, I know I am so much more fortunate than the folks down there - but enough with the rain already!

Honestly, I can't remember when the sun showed its face last here in these parts. It's been tropically humid for over a week now with clouds and rain just about every day. According to my weather station, we've had over 5.25" (13.33 cm) if rain since Wednesday. 4.63" (11.76 cm) of that total came down in a three hour period between Midnight and 3:00 AM Thursday morning!

What does it look like when you get that much rain in such a little time? One of our residents flew a drone over the parts of town that are situated near the Bound Brook, a most-of-the-time small-ish body of water that feeds the Raritan River. Here are some still photos.

Luckily, my house is in part of town that is situated towards the top of a small rise, so all the rain water flows downhill past us, and towards the brook. When Marianne and I were shopping for a house in South Plainfield back in 1998, we found a house that was PERFECT for us. She absolutely loved it and for me, there were plenty of tall trees in the backyard - ideally suited to become a wire antenna farm. I was ready to sign on the dotted line in a heartbeat. Then I asked the realtor what was behind the trees and she said, "The Bound Brook". I immediately put the kibosh on buying that house. Growing up in this part of New Jersey, I was well aware of how that "minor brook" floods. Since we moved here, there have been at least 6 or 7 instances where I know we would have had to contend with a flooded basement, or worse. I believe that during Hurricane Irene water even reached into the main floors of houses in that neighborhood.

This rotten weather looks to be affecting what I will be able to do for QRP Afield, which is tomorrow. The idea, of course, is to operate from a portable location using emergency power and portable antennas. It's not required to stay dry during the event; but from my point of view, staying dry is highly preferable. Even if it's sunny tomorrow, everything around here is so soggy, I don't know if I be able to find a relatively dry park in town from which to operate portable.

Tomorrow is also the NJ QSO Party, so maybe I'll just stay in the shack (as much as I can amongst the normal weekend chores) and make an effort to participate in that. I've never made a really big effort, and maybe as a QRP station, I can make a good showing.

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!