Annie and a Flood

Chris sent out Annie's school photos today. She's in seventh grade, bright, curious, an avid reader, and definitely her father's daughter. 

This afternoon we went to Bentsen Rio Grande Valley State Park for a special presentation on the effects of the summer floods there. Hardy and Judy were there too, so we got to visit with them. We were glad they'd let us know about the program.

In July, Hurricane Alex filled the Rio Grande River over flood level, and the dams and floodways were full. Water came up almost to the top of the newly raised levees, flooding nearly the whole park. We saw a slide show on the flooding and then walked out to the Ebony Grove with a naturalist.

The ebony trees will benefit from the flooding, which used to occur every few years before the dams were put in. Since the water has receded, naturalists have seen bobcats and javelinas, which evidently survived in the trees, and heard the chachalacas. We saw our first green jays of the season at a newly opened feeder. The park will come back, but it will require a lot of work to reopen it to the public.

Looking down the road beyond the barricade.

You can see the high water line on the trees.

Overhead, we saw a Crested Caracara in flight. (I got this photo off the web.)

We stopped by Bentsen Palm Village to check out our spot, where we'll move December 1. The levee protected the RV park, and the bushes and flowers and butterflies all looked just fine.