AFTERMATH

Friday 09 January 2009, 10:30 a.m.


Benches, garbage can, south bank, Puyallup River, north bank, mobile homes.


White sandbags, gray sandbags, swollen river.


Road closed, road closed, water over roadway.


Gate E.


Dining room chairs buried in mud beneath the Puyallup River Bridge.


Mud-caked lawn, damaged apartments.


Trail closed flooding, trail closed flooding.

AFTERNOON

Thursday 08 January 2009, 2:30 p.m.


A log left behind on the Puyallup Riverfront Trail by the Puyallup River.


Benches and branches.


Mud covering the Puyallup Riverfront Trail, six inches to three feet deep.


Pumping water from behind levees and sandbags.


A lake where once there was a meadow.


Sandbags on both sides of the fence of a flooded apartment complex.


Blue skies.


Footprints in the mud.


Trail closed due to flooding. Most of Phase I of the trail will open two hours from now.


The sun shines upon disaster and devastation.

NOON

Thursday 08 January 2009, 12:00 noon


Trail erosion. The city spent a good portion of the summer shoring up the sides of the trail. If they had not, then sections of the asphalt would most likely have been washed away.


Flood humor. Swords stuck into the mud of a backyard demarcate the hourly retreat of the water.


Mud patterns.


I can almost reach the benches again via paved trail.


Fence damage along the Puyallup Riverfront Trail.

LATE MORNING

Thursday 08 January 2009, 11:00 a.m.


One of Puyallup's bridges.


Street sweeper still in action.


A view from the bridge, looking west.


Another view from the bridge, looking down at the "north bank."


The submerged Puyallup Riverfront Trail.


The "south bank" of the river.

THE NEXT MORNING

Thursday 08 January 2009, 7:30 a.m.


Apartment complex that was flooded.


The City of Puyallup began cleanup of mud and debris immediately. This is a street sweeper in action.


Sandbags to keep the river water back.

THE GREAT THAW

"After the Great Winter, the Great Thaw set in. It was equally unannounced, equally incomprehensible, equally destructive."
—page 62, Tonguecat by Peter Verhelst

After the freeze comes the thaw comes the flood with its attendant tumult.
—Troy's Work Table


River meets asphalt.


This is what evacuation gridlock looks like.


Our church gymnasium opened as an emergency shelter. I didn't stay but I stopped by.

FLOOD

The Puyallup River is threatening our house. We are moving all of our treasured belongings out of our basement and to higher ground—upstairs and elsewhere.

I realize that I am thinking like a writer, saving my own writings and cherished books first.

(But don't worry about us. We have a good support system and people ready to move us. You may keep us in your prayers, however.)

THREE HOLIDAY ALES

Three of my favorite holiday ales were enjoyed while vacationing at the ocean.

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Delirium Noël, a Belgian Strong Ale by Brouwerij Huyghe

25.4 ounce bottle with meat pizza.

Delirium Noël pours copper red with an ivory head. There is no lacing.

Its nose is of orange zest, cinnamon, coriander, caramel, and brown sugar. Its tongue is of coriander and other spices, an alcohol bite, leathery yeast, the bitter of orange peel, and brown sugar. It is spicy, warming, rich, and excellent.

The sweetness of the pizza's tomato sauce and the greasy juices of the sausage and pepperoni play well with this ale. The brine of the salted sea air also complements.

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Thomas Hardy's Ale, a Barleywine by O'Hanlon's Brewery

This is about as perfect a beer experience as I can imagine having. This is truly my favorite ale of all time.

It is a small bottle (8.5 ounces) that packs a major punch (11.7% alcohol by volume). It is meant to be sipped, which makes the experience that much more enjoyable, as the ale changes as it warms.

This is like rum-soaked, caramelized brown sugar hiding a few raisins. It is full, thick, and heavy on the nose and the palate. In other words, a gift from the gods.

This particular bottle is from the home beer cellar, having resided there for a couple of years. It is of the 2005 "vintage," number P14358. The extra bottle conditioning matured this ale to a place of extreme enjoyment, a moment savored and cherished.

The salted prime rib that accompanied this ale and the company of those around also helped it go down nice and easy.

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Doggie Claws, a Barleywine by Hair of the Dog Brewing Company

12 ounce bottle.

This is still a fairly young bottle of Doggie Claws, having been bottled in 2007. It pours a hazy plum-tinted brown with a thin white head. Interestingly, it leaves behind thin bands of intricate lacing, something fairly unusually for a barleywine. Small particulates in the body settle to the bottom of the glass.

The nose is of brandy, raisin, brown sugar, and honey, along with a noticeable hoppiness. The flavor is similar—sweet with a good strong hoppiness in the background.

Some extra bottle conditioning would make it even better than it is, but that is a minor "problem."

Pulled pork sandwiches are a good match for this ale.

BACON CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Pictured above is a Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookie with Maple Cinnamon Glaze.

I made a batch of them this evening. They are pretty tasty. The dough contains dark chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, and bacon. A piece of flexible and fatty bacon adorns the maple cinnamon glaze.

The wife thought the bacon too flavorful and working against the cookie and chocolate flavors. I thought the bacon somewhat understated and wanted more of it to play against the cookie and chocolate. In a nutshell, that sums up our relationship and individual outlooks on life.

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I found a link to the recipe on a tumblr blog that I visit on occasion—Half a Bubble Off Plumb.

The recipe can be found at neverbashfulwithbutter.com

My cookies don't quite look like the cookies on the original site, but they still taste good.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Cheers to 2008 coming to an end and the hope and promise of a new year!