Rain. So much rain.

It started two days ago and I was not ready for it. I idled away the summer days. I fixed a gutter and tried out some drainage theories here and there. But when the rain came it was in sheets. There was hale too. The walls creaked all during this.
I have to explain. This house for the most part has no foundation. It was not meant to last this long. It was just a stick house on a big lot near the Disney and Max Sennet studios. Back when all the studios were on the east side. It was probably a house for some mechanic or other studio contractor.
Then the 1960s and 1970s happened. The little wooden bungalow got a coat of stucco and heavy steel bars on every window. Hardly a dime was put into the upkeep. Along the way they got the bright idea to back-fill the lot to achieve some level ground. carted in earth mixed with cement and broken pipes. Leveled it to the side of the house. Right up to the gunwales.
And when the rains come the earth gets much heavier. So much so that it has nudged the house a few inches down the hill. I figured it all out while i was jacking it up two years ago.
Rain. Los Angeles is a basin. A hillside's natural state is to be wash. An arroyo. Seco in the summer. Flash flood in the rains.

I put on my raingear and went out to survey the house's ability to withstand rain. That's really the measure of a house isn't it? That dryness. O so elusive.
It was bad. Pools of water against the side of the house. Various gutters were rusted and blocked. Cracked and leaking. The roof of this 1000 sq/ft house displaces an amazing amount of water in one of these flash rains. I worked through the rain and most of the afternoon unblocking gutters and trying to divert some of that natural fury.

Later on the sun came out, and while having a smoke I started stacking some rocks and broken pieces of cement tile in the front yard. I don't know why. I squatted down and started stacking upward. Finding the balance. I did several little pagan towers. It's a wonderful thing to do. I began to think about rock-stacking vacations. Go camping in places with a good supply of rocks and build cairns like that.

Rainwater and rocks. I don't know man.