Some good Samaritan came around today and made a bad situation worse. I know he meant well, but he had a tractor and he was determined to use it (especially since the county hasn’t been able to do anything on my road). He spent some time digging out the drainage ditches along the side of the road and dumping the excess mud at the end of my driveway. He told me he was doing this for a friend who lived down the road. Maybe he could have dumped the mud in her driveway, then.

There was plenty of room for material at the end of the drive, because it has a deep depression (read: big hole) that collects rainwater. I’ve been driving through puddles every time I go in and out, even before last night’s massive storm. Now, thanks to Mr. Samaritan, the area is flatter, but way, way muddier. It’s a brown, oozing lake, and I was just glad I didn’t have any reason to try to drive my car through it today.

Tammy was out shopping today and came across a pair of rain boots in my size, so I had her pick them up for me. Trust me, that’s the only way I was able to get through the ooze and pick up my mail. There’s no mail delivery tomorrow or Monday, so there will be no reason for me to try to get through that muck again, either on foot or by car. I’m content to be stuck in my house, which apparently sits high enough above the water table that there’s no great threat of damage.

Last night’s storm was so loud that I couldn’t get to sleep because of the sound of the rain pelting against the house, and I woke up early this morning because the roar of the wind was so loud. It was like living inside a car wash, and I’m just grateful that the rain stopped before noon (and the sun even came out this afternoon). It’s a temporary respite, if they’re right. The next storm is due tomorrow afternoon and could pack an even bigger wallop than this one. There’s nowhere left for the water to go, so our best hope is that they’re wrong. As they often are.

Obviously, this is a minor inconvenience compared to some of the big stories of 2005, including the tsunami that washed out south Asia a year ago, and the hurricanes that destroyed so much of the Gulf Coast this summer. We’ll never hear the names Katrina, Rita or Wilma attached to another hurricane, that’s for sure. I will recover, but many people around the world never will.

And that only accounts for natural disasters. Humanity managed to turn on itself in a big way this year as well. War and terrorism and general mayhem combined to make it a deadly time in history, and we’re well shed of it. Not that things will definitely get much better in 2006. Or 2007. I have high hopes for 2008, though.