And on the sixth week...
Nobody rested.
One week ago, I got a wild hair and decided to drive north up US Hwy 19W to see what Helene had done along the Cane River where I lived for 12 years. I knew my friend Sharon’s house was taken, and my old house was gone except for the chimney. I didn’t know there was a name for what I was doing - something like “disaster touring” - what people who don’t actually live in a hemorrhaged place are doing when they want to drive around and enjoy being amazed by other people’s losses. I needed to see what once was mine - quite possibly during the happiest years of my life - and perhaps see some of my old neighbors.
I didn’t see anyone I knew. The southbound lane was mostly washed away. There were DOT trucks, earth movers, and dump trucks heading north, like me, haltingly. What I did see seemed like a hellscape; the riverbed was substantially widened, and any houses or structures between the river and the road - like my old house and Crate and Anise Bailey’s - were gone or collapsed. Driveways that led up the hills from the northbound lane were blocked.
You can’t tell water where to go without some major engineering, so in this mountainous region, it is going to run downhill with some force.
Mitchell Branch (creek, to you Yankees) runs south towards Burnsville from Phillips Knob (elevation 4300’, which now sports a bright LED-lighted cross - I guess to remind us every night that we damn well are a damn Christian community, and to hell with seeing stars?). The branch runs through the park. It used to then run across an open grassy field that had two magnificent oak trees, then under East Main Street, continuing under a cluster of buildings on stilts which included a residence, a rental unit, and a restaurant/music venue.
Some years ago a Town Councilor bragged about having Mitchell Branch piped and covered up on that grassy field below the park. A few years later we had a torrential rain and guess what? The deluge of water burst from its 3’ pipe imprisonment at the bottom of East Main and Summit Street (my street) with enough force to destroy the underpinnings of those businesses at the bottom. The buildings have been condemned.
That councilor is now on the County Commission. Unfortunately he is not up for reelection this year, but when and if he runs again, this will come up, I promise. This has nothing to do with the fact that the restaurant on East Main (Mary Jane’s) had named a breakfast sandwich after me, since I was there for breakfast pretty much every morning with the usual suspects (about 10 of us) and I always ordered the same thing: a toasted and buttered Everything bagel with egg, provolone, spinach, and mayo.
There is good news! The Lucy Doll sandwich will supposedly be on the menu at the new deli opening up on the square, in that space next to the tag office. They’ve scraped the painted “Book Cellar” sign off the window, and haven’t put their name up yet. Today I noticed a big screen tv in there, which of course I think is awful, but the owner seems like a nice guy. Tony, I think.
I started this Buttondown with the intention of telling you what’s been percolating to the top since the last one. I will say that I spent a lot of time today hauling brush up the yard to the street for the Town to pick up on their next random trip. (Last week, I heard what sounded like a semi going past, and stopping. It was a huge dump truck with a scoop, picking up debris. When I stepped out to see what the noise was, my neighbor who is the Public Works Director, was stepping out as well. Turns out he had not been informed this would be happening. But, one less job for his guys. He is great about seeing our messes taken care of.) I was about kilt today - tired and sweating - when Ronni showed up and we went out to eat in Weaverville (after I cleaned up and put on real clothes). We can’t wait until Carriage House Sundries reopens. Please, oh please!
Samaritan’s Purse (a Franklin Graham ((son of Billy)) enterprise) is present in town with big trucks o’ stuff, including food. Supposedly, they will send guys with chainsaws to clear some of the downed trees out back. I must be low on their list… it’s been a few days. They also have toilet stalls on the back side of their trailers.
I don’t know what ‘normal’ means anymore. It’s been over a month since Helene, yet it feels like it was just last week.
I will leave you with this: should you find yourself in the midst of a disaster and you have no wifi, order a Starlink. The day after it is delivered, your wifi will automagically return! This happened to me and several friends. They’ll send you a return FedEx label. Which reminds me, I need to plug in that tracking number…and if they have received it and haven’t sent me my refund check, Elon Musk is going to hear from me. He’ll be sorry.
Cheers,
Lucy