Enough with the Rain, Already!
Ohhh, Christ! It's raining AGAIN. It just keeps raining. This is really getting ridiculous. If I wanted to live in a place with this much rain, I woulda moved to Oregon, where the housing is cheaper. This is really insane. However, I am one of the fortunate ones. Sure, I live about a quarter of a mile away from a levy, and, sure the river's running really high. But, so far, I'm not one of the guys on the news standing in front of a soggy house, showing people a pile of muddy garbage that used to be photo albums and a wedding dress, or wading through waist-high water, carrying a TV to the back of a pickup truck, or talking about how we never knew there were so many old buried septic tanks around here...
But, really, enough's enough. One thing, though...
There's a place on Highway one out on the coast here in California called Devil's Slide. This part of the highway is closed indefinitely because, guess what? it's sliding into the Pacific Ocean. Now, a few years ago, during another heavy rainy season, a similar thing occured at the same spot. The residents of a nearby little town were upset at two things. One, that Caltrans hadn't fixed the road yet, even as it continued to slide at a rate of a couple of inches a day and the rain kept coming. And two, that Caltrans wanted to build an inland bypass that would avoid the problem section of the coast altogether. The residents of this little town wailed that it would spell the death of their wide spot in the road that depends on traffic down Highway 1 for its economy.
My sympathies. However, it's called DEVIL'S SLIDE, fer chrissakes!! Not Happy Fun Slide, or Butterscotch Caramel Fudge Slide, or Butterfly Rainbow Slide. It's Devil's Slide. Unlike just about every other place on the California Coast, they made sure it was named in English - just so everyone driving down the California Coast from all around the country would know what they were dealing with. El Diapositiva del Diablo just doesn't quite have the same ring, does it? Look. If the only access to your town is through a place called Devil's Slide, its days are pretty much numbered.
Anyway, the bypass never got built, and now, SURPRISE! Devil's Slide is once again sliding into the sea. I feel that in some way the whole situation is an example in miniature of how humans behave in general.
But, really, enough's enough. One thing, though...
There's a place on Highway one out on the coast here in California called Devil's Slide. This part of the highway is closed indefinitely because, guess what? it's sliding into the Pacific Ocean. Now, a few years ago, during another heavy rainy season, a similar thing occured at the same spot. The residents of a nearby little town were upset at two things. One, that Caltrans hadn't fixed the road yet, even as it continued to slide at a rate of a couple of inches a day and the rain kept coming. And two, that Caltrans wanted to build an inland bypass that would avoid the problem section of the coast altogether. The residents of this little town wailed that it would spell the death of their wide spot in the road that depends on traffic down Highway 1 for its economy.
My sympathies. However, it's called DEVIL'S SLIDE, fer chrissakes!! Not Happy Fun Slide, or Butterscotch Caramel Fudge Slide, or Butterfly Rainbow Slide. It's Devil's Slide. Unlike just about every other place on the California Coast, they made sure it was named in English - just so everyone driving down the California Coast from all around the country would know what they were dealing with. El Diapositiva del Diablo just doesn't quite have the same ring, does it? Look. If the only access to your town is through a place called Devil's Slide, its days are pretty much numbered.
Anyway, the bypass never got built, and now, SURPRISE! Devil's Slide is once again sliding into the sea. I feel that in some way the whole situation is an example in miniature of how humans behave in general.
posted by Cori at 12:35 PM
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