Early Wednesday, in the wee small hours, I woke up to the sound of rain. This is pretty unusual, actually, (Neel and I sleep with a fan blasting [we like it icy and we like the noise.]) and I don't think I can remember a time when I could hear the rain falling outside. Wind, yes. All the time. The rain? Never. Until that night.

When I hear rain like that, the first thing I always do is check the street.

As expected, the street was gone, and in its place, a river. These photos were taken from a storm a few weeks ago, but flooding like this is not uncommon at this time of year. Our tidal river is partly to blame, as is the fact that Norfolk is second only to New Orleans in the U.S. for issues with flooding and sea level rise.

Once the rain stops, we all emerge to check things out. By the time I could get out and take photos, the water was already receding. You can see the high-water line along the grass across the way. Cal is at the deepest spot, at the corner of two streets and about five house down from ours.

Anyone with a car parked on the street has cause for concern (I know I was worried Wednesday night since Neel usually parks Blanche, our Mini Cooper, on the street. Thankfully he'd pulled into the driveway or he would have been headed out in the downpour!)

Next up! Watching the cars trying to navigate the deep waters! The trucks can usually make it, but the cars are often not successful.

It's funny. I love the street flooding. It's exciting, and as long as I'm safe at home and not worrying about how to get here, it's fun to watch how high the water goes. The worst so far came a couple years ago during a November nor'easter, although the water Wednesday night got pretty high. There are things I don't like though. I don't like that our street floods more now than it did when we moved here nearly ten years ago, and I don't like that Neel and I are noticing that the water takes longer and longer to recede after a storm. In the meantime, we're thinking we need a no-wake zone.