Hi all. Thanks for thinking of us. All told, we're doing OK. We're not in the floodplain and if it weren't for the fact that our solar panels overhang the gutters, we'd have had minimal issues. But, the water came off the panels, down onto the sidewalk along the house and then into the basement window wells. They filled up and water flooded into the basement through the windows, but between my bailing from the outside and Dawn sopping up as much as she could with a rotation of towels going through the spin cycle, we kept it to a reasonable amount, about two inches in two rooms. None of the instruments were affected and the music room only got damp at one end. My body was pretty well trashed after three days of bailing 5 gallon buckets. If we'd had a sump pump or a shop vac, things would have been different. Lots of work still to do, hauling away stuff that got wet, replacing a Pergo floor in the studio, etc., but I guess the silver lining is that we're getting a head start on rehabbing the room that was going to be Xander's playroom in a couple of years.
So many friends were wiped out, though, and lost houses, studios, all their instruments, etc. I'm sure everyone has seen the pictures from Lyons, Jamestown, Salina, Estes Park, etc. Planet Bluegrass got completely wiped out. There are a bunch of benefit concerts coming up, but it's going to be a long winter and the struggle is just beginning for too many people. And my community of peeps lost a dear friend up in Jamestown. A lot of the roads can't be repaired until the spring and who knows when many of houses can be rebuilt.
Some good news: Grace Design had minimal damage (although Eben Grace's house in Lyons got pummeled), Ome Banjos only lost a couple of banjo shells and some finish on a guitar and their entire stock of wood was spared, a friend's jewelry studio up in the mountains that ended up surrounded by a river that was totally dry on the inside, and Dawn's studio/shop in North Boulder was essentially untouched, despite being surrounded by businesses that ended up under feet of mud and water.
At this point, I'm still a little shell shocked. Xander came through it like a champ, but it was clear to him things were a little crazy (he kept pointing out the window and saying Wet!) and a couple times we just had to throw him in his crib with a kiss and an apology and fight the water for hours on end while he cried at the top of his lungs. In his short life, he's been through record fire seasons and now what some are calling a 1000 year flood. He's walking and talking more than ever, though, and loves playing my bass (only Modulus right now, the graphite can take whatever he can dish out!).
Send all your wishes of recovery to Jamestown, Estes Park, Lyons and the eastern plains. They desperately need it.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151897501649134&comment_id=30458475&offset=0&total_comments=7¬if_t=video_comment
