I'm sure few here understand what I mean when I say that I used to live "ON THE RIVER." I'm talking about a house inside the levee on the Mississippi River. We were up in the air 8' on stilts until 2008 when we got flooded and a foot of water got inside.

We had to move out as it approached to crest the levee and take all of our belongings out in a Jon Boat(17 trips in four hours and it rose up 3 stair treads while we did, never underestimate water). We rebuilt it after and raised it 5 more feet with the help of a friend using the hydraulics on his skid loader. I did the research and calculus needed to do this to FEMA codes and approval. It was quite the undertaking, let me tell you!

Another part of that move was taking the boat trailer that we'd left in the yard. It was not supposed to get that high but a really big rain up north sent the water level up 8 feet. When you realize that the river was over a mile wide at our area and it was raising 8 feet....you realize how devastating water can be. So to get that trailer out, we took the Jon boat over to its trailer, used towing straps and winched it up to the trailer to attach to the Jon boat, filled up the gas tank, and it took two hours fighting current to get to the ramp. Occasionally had to cross the slough to get slower current when it pushed us backwards on curves. Some guys fishing there saw me jump out, swim to shore, back up the truck, as he pulled up the ramp in a boat with the trailer already attached. Off we drove! LOL

It had flooded over the levee completely that year and breeched it in many places, one quite close to our house. I have stories that most would find unlikely but they did indeed happen. Lived there for ten years, I'd married the owner. Let him have his house in the divorce when I left, despite all the work and money I'd poured into it myself including I built all the kitchen cabinetry myself. I left with little except a ruined credit rating. It was quite an experience and parts of it I dearly loved, others were things few experience. Had to keep a close eye on a puppy once because eagles...which were also fun to watch fishing at the openings of river boils in winter. I had to wait once while a beaver dragged a tree across the road in front of my camaro to get to the slough of the river.

If you didn't have to move out and it flooded, you would have to park your car at the levee, walk over the top of it to where you'd keep your boat. Including all your groceries, drinking water, dog food, etc. If the dogs needed to do their business and it was too deep for them to stand up in it, you would have to either force them to use the deck, then clean it or take them to the levee every time they needed to.

One time I thought a tree was dead at the place I left the boat. As I got closer, hundreds of thousands of mayflies took flight and I realized that the tree wasn't dead. I still cannot stand them to this day. The poodle we had thought they were yummy treats, however.

Another time in returning from taking the dogs to do their business, the black lab rushed me at our stairs, knocked me out of the boat, and the boat ran over my legs holding me underwater. I had to shove it off, cut my legs terribly, then swim after the boat as it floated off downriver. I barely made it. That dog never rushed me again. I do not hit animals but he knew by my words and tone that he was a bad dog.

I dearly remember watching purple martins having a condominium cut into the bank of an island. They were fantastic to watch catching bugs in midair at twilight while fishing. I also fished out of my living room window during flood. I'd watch big logs float down the river under my feet through the kitchen window, hoping they didn't hit and take out a pier that the house was standing on.

I'd harvest pecans every fall...they're a swamp tree and do quite well in areas prone to flood. The nuts are better in those years.

We fished a ton, watched the sandbars change in the river, and nature is fascinating. Ever see a snake grab a bullfrog too big to fit its gullet? I have, after three hours of struggle he put them both out of their misery. Another time I had to shoot a cottonmouth before it got the Golden Retriever we had. We jumped in the slough there from time to time ourselves so really didn't want venomous snakes in the area. I have got more stories than time to tell and I doubt I'd remember all of them. It's definitely a different way of life.