of stop and slow (never over 7 mph) driving on the way home. It took me two hours to go 35 miles.

Heaven only knows why the first slowdown developed on the interstate. And then my progress across the old bridge came to a screeching 2 mph barely half a mile onto the bridge. As I got somewhat closer I could see flashing lights on the drawspan. One set was on an ambulance, the other on a fire truck.

Did I mention it was raining, and some areas of the sky looked really nasty?

Once I got across the bridge I couldn't help but notice that the water level in the marshes was up. And as I got closer to town I could see it was WAY up.

While I'd been creeping along at 2 mph I'd pretty much decided that a Popeye's dinner was exactly what I needed.

Problem: the shopping center it's in had really big puddles. So much for Popeye's.

It was obvious the Slidell area had had a BUNCH of rain--bayous overflowing, streets with varying degrees of flooding, etc.

The 6 PM weather report said Slidell had had almost 2 1/2 inches of rain. I believe it. One learns to judge rainfall by which streets have flooded and how high the water in the ditches is.

I think rain is forecast for tomorrow also.

And I'll be in New Orleans tomorrow.