The oddest things can feel reassuring to me.

For weeks I have been observing the consequences of the spring thaw.
The main road crosses, by bridge, the Upper Charles River,
and many low, marshy areas.
Some of the road's lowest spots are flood-prone.
And so I have watched the rising water level.
The riverbanks disappeared as the river got so high
that it merged with the wetlands and marshes on either side of its banks,

and it all looked like a great shallow lake with
vegetation of every size and shape sticking out of the water.

Today I rejoiced to see two things.
First, all that vegetation standing there
has got a ring of mud around it, right above the water's surface.

Second, little islands have appeared where there was only water before,
and the little islands coincide exactly with
the location of the riverbanks.

That means the water level, praise heaven,
is going down instead of up,
and with every lowering of the water level
it is less likely to flood the roads.

Who ever would have thought
that the sight of strategically placed mud
would come as such a relief.