the Walnut Diary

It was a placid Sunday drive to check out a new kennel where our spaniel could enjoy her vacation while we went on ours. The navigation system directed us to the Narrows Lock Road and away we went. Then we came to a stretch of asphalt which seemed to be below water level for about two hundred yards.

Orange cones denoted the entrance on both sides, but there was no ROAD CLOSED sign such as the one I encountered last week on my way home from Chaffey’s Locks.

Realizing that we both had our rubber boots on for the kennel visit, I stopped the car and waded out half-way. It was borderline. My feet weren’t in danger of getting wet, but there was quite a bit of water above the yellow line painted on the asphalt below.

So we started off, slowly wading the low sedan through the calm water. This went well enough. I watched the floor and nothing was leaking in. Then the pavement broke up. This was a surprise. It had looked smooth from the top, but the drive was becoming very lumpy. But there was no going back now, so with memories of that floating Ferrari on the Don Valley Parkway last summer, we headed slowly for the other side.

As we emerged, flashers flashing, a woman in a new Ford pickup ignored my warning and blasted through the whole thing, throwing a bow wake like a Quebec cabin cruiser on a holiday weekend.

Oh, well.