Book tour news, and more of the flood

Ava at Crown Publicity has confirmed a bunch of dates for my upcoming tour. The right sidebar lists my appearances in Portsmouth, NH; Los Angeles; Boulder and Vail, CO; San Francisco; Seattle; Portland; Dayton; Boston and elsewhere.

Kanani, Sex Scenes, Anti-Wife, Drama Mama and others . . . I told you I'd go West! Here I come.

And we're not done . . . there will be more dates added.

And I'm not done with flood photos either. It's pouring rain again, and the Corp of Engineers says the river will rise three more feet by Wednesday. My neighbor Rick Palmer, who's head of Civil Engineering at UMass, tells me this may be the wettest summer since they started keeping records, almost 150 years ago. That's the great thing about geek neighbors . . . they look up stuff like that and tell you, without even being asked.

That is why the world needs geeks. I'm proud to do my share.

Will the bridges hold? You look up at the sky and the trees, and they seem so strong and permanent, and the scene so idyllic . . .





But you put your face against the steel and you can feel it trembling from the force of the water. And you look down, where some are dangerously close to the limits . . .



So far, the force of the water is only hitting the abutment, the support in the middle. If the water rises a foot more, it will hit the bridge itself, and that will be the end . . .



For those who are curious about boating in these conditions, here's another view of those rapids yesterday:



That shot give a bit better sense of what it felt like, driving the boat down the stairs. You can see the edge in that shot. Here's a view of the same rapids, a bit farther up, from shore. This is where I turned around as things were just getting dicier.



The folks who manage the Turners Falls dam didn't expect this rain. They expected the usual low water, so they took apart some of the floodgates for repair.




The center gate is dismantled but they're OK for now with what they have . . . but the rain hasn't ended. This is the end of the line for boats, about 1,000 feet past where I spun around.
This last shot shows my Zodiac boat at rest. It's what's called a rigid hull inflatable. It's got a solid fiberglass center surrounded by air filled floatation tubes. Boats like this are extremely stable and virtually unsinkable. They excel in rough areas because the inflatable tubes bounce off objects and prevent damage. They are also very strong.

Comments

Please won't you be, my geek neighbor? A new twist on Mr. Rogers, courtesy of John.

John, on the train home from our event in NY, I got a text from my husband, who was in the basement with the kids awaiting a tornado! In CT??? The weather was indeed fierce here on Thursday and Friday.

Did the bridge hold?

K
John Robison said…
I'll be your neighbor if you move up here. I'm scared to move to Connecticut. Too many tornados.

The bridge is still standing but the water is rising.
v-ness said…
a little tornado killed my first Jeep Wrangler here in massachusetts, john, so beware!!! ;) funnel cloud over sunderland just the other day. valerie
cool pics. But it looks like your Chicago appearance will be in October? (still not posted yet). If so, I'll probably miss you, since I'll be traveling in the Far East for most of October.

I can try to catch you in St. Charles, IL in December, though. That's not too far from me.
Michelle O'Neil said…
Wow. Those are some pictures John.

P.S.
Hope one of the stops you'll be adding is in Cleveland!!!
Unknown said…
John, I am one of Drama Mama's friends, and I will be at Books Inc for sure, possibly even with tyke. I await your effusive praise and will repay in kind.
Unknown said…
Oh, and because Blogger is very inhospitable to non-Blogger users, you can find me here:

www.familyroomblog.com
John Robison said…
Susan, it will be good to see you there. And Michelle, I have a Dayton date but no Cleveland yet.
Unknown said…
Is that little white boat new? Do you still have the large boat you used to have? It’s exciting to read about both your book tour and your trip up the river. I hope to see and hear you at one of your readings. I think it’s wonderful that you are such an inspiration to so many young people as well as older people like me.
The Anti-Wife said…
John,
I'm looking forward to seeing you on September 27th at 3rd Place Books!!!
ssas said…
Yea!! Ok, trying to make it again for sure this time...
Erika said…
Hey there. You met my mother, Dr. Cooper today at the APA meeting, and she told me that I should try contacting you through your blog. I also wanted to personally, (or as personally as i can) thank you for the signed paper. =]
~Erika
Cool pics. Reminds me of the annual floods we would get every spring in Ohio, where I grew up. Some years they were very bad, flooding streets, washing out bridges, etc.

If your Chicago date ends up being when I'm overseas between Oct 1-Oct 13, what do I need to do to see you in St. Charles? Do I need to pay to attend that convention or can I just come to the signing?
John Robison said…
Erika, thanks for your note. I tried to make it small enough to paste into your book.

And Jill . . . I will post the contact info for the St Charles event soon and we'll get you into one or the other

Woof!

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