July 4th is the day we set aside to honor our country and celebrate the birthday of this great nation. Flags were flying, patriotism was flowing and people all over Hartselle were ready to enjoy a great American holiday. However, something we tend to take for granted decided to step in and make for an interesting holiday for some folks in our fair city.

The morning of July 4 showed up with the windows of heaven open and rain pouring down. For many the rain would make a change of their plans necessary very quickly. Even though the weather forecast had been calling for rain for several days many, including myself, thought it is not going to rain on July 4.

While the rain continued to fall and fall faster and harder, my wife mentioned that, we seemed to have very little water pressure. While the morning moved on. the water pressure seemed to get lower and lower. Well, my inquiring mind wanted to know what was happening, so before I called anyone. I opened up the party line (Facebook) and asked if anyone else in Hartselle was having water pressure issues. Well, within a couple of minutes I was flooded with responses about low water pressure in several areas of town. Since it does pay to have friends in high places, I was able to find out and share about a water line break that was causing the issue. Hartselle Utilities soon had the problem corrected and all was well.

Well, not quite, while we had little water pressure through the faucets, the rain continued to fall. Looking out over our yard water was standing everywhere; it was flowing down the street like a small stream. With the amount of rain we had in a short period, I knew what this would mean for several areas of Hartselle, especially downtown.

With camera in hand and raincoat on, I proceeded to make my way around Hartselle taking pictures of the flooding that was occurring. Prompted by past occurrences, many downtown store operators had already placed sandbags around their doors and some were even checking to make sure drains were working properly. Hartselle had received over 6 inches of rain in a small amount of time. Since all water flows downhill and all directions into Hartselle are downhill, much of the rain ended up there.

So maybe there is a lesson here. Be careful what you wish. We wanted the water from the sky to stop falling so we could enjoy the holiday, then the water from the faucet stopped. Then we wanted water from the faucet and the clouds shared their abundance.

Randy Garrison is the president and publisher of the Hartselle Enquirer.