Time Keeps on Slipping...into the Future

Hoo hoo! Well as the title states, time just has a way of getting away from me! But 6 1/2 months? Pulleeze! That is unforgivable. So I am back and will try keeping up a bit better than I have been. Mea Culpa, my friends!

So just what has been happening to keep me so diverted, you ask? I would tell you, but I would have to kill you...so let me begin...

Of course with last year's hurricane season, our school lost ~5 weeks of the Fall semester. We tried to recoup by extending Fall semester classes right up to the day before Christmas Eve, then continuing several weeks into January - ending on Friday. Then Spring semester began the following Tuesday after Martin Luther King Day. No prep time to do grades, graduate folks, and begin the new semester. In essence we were all "behind" from day one. And let me tell you! It showed in the toll it took on our students and our faculty! *Whooee* Haven't seen a drop rate that high in a looong time. Thankfully that is now behind us and 'God willing and the creek don't rise', we will not have a repeat performance this hurricane season...which we are now officially in.

It is also now officially SUMMER. Ha! I am done with Spring classes, grading, graduating etc. But am still having to finish projects that I couldn't get to during the semester. 1 minor and 1 major item should be finished (read that "must be finished") by July 4th. That is the plan anyway. Getting there slowly... Then I have to teach myself "a foreign language" before Fall starts! Yes folks, I must learn Java programming before I can teach it in the Fall. This will be interesting! Know of any good Internet classes out there in same???

Now I heard that! "Awww, Dang! Poor Cathie! She works so hard! How does she do it?
No rest and still she cooks, cleans, quilts and brings home the bacon & fries it up in a pan!" Well, ok I would be lying if I let you think that. It won't be all work, sweat and toil. Shhhhhh, Frank doesn't know it, but two of the most important women in his life are coming down day after tomorrow to help him celebrate his birthday on Saturday and Father's Day on Sunday! Yay! What? You say but he may read this here and spoil the surprise? Have no fear Dear Readers (the optimist in me added the "s")... Frank doesn't do blogs! See what he is missing? *Giggle* Anyhooo, won't he be surprised to see Kimberly and Ash stroke into the house on Thursday? Can't wait to have them here with us. A present for me as much as Frank!

And then... F and I will be leaving to visit my sister & hubby in Californ-eye-A on July 6th-13! The plan is for the 4 of us to drive up the northern CA coast, stopping at various B&B's along the way to Bend, Oregon. Barb & I will go to a world renowned (well it IS if you are a quilter!) quilt show in Sisters, Oregon. http://www.sistersoutdoorquiltshow.org/showdayinfo.htm. How nice they named that town in our honor, eh? Check out these pics of previous shows and see if you don't agree...pretty cool, eh? http://www.sistersoutdoorquiltshow.org/photogallery.htm . The guys are going to tear themselves away to hike in the mountains while we peruse the textile arts! I will be delighted with the climate and to rest my eyes on wooded, cool, mountainous scenery. Nice change from the flat, hot climate here in SW Louisiana & SE Texas!

Then it will be home again to knuckle down to Java for me. Ah the joys of learning new things. They say if you keep your mind engaged and actively learn new things, you can stave off the onset of Alzheimer's Disease. So this is me trying to stay sharp...oh, look! a rabbit!...

Happy 2009!

It's clear and cold here. Fireworks are going off all over town. The excitement and newness is palpable! May 2009 prove to be full of promise and opportunities for us all.

I wish you all a very Happy New Year!

Christmas Eve 2008

What a special day. You can almost feel the snap and crackle of anticipation in the air. It has an entirely different personality and character from it's younger sibling - Christmas Day. Last minute errands are being run, last packages wrapped and tucked under trees, kids out of school and just a little more 'wired' than usual. Down here we can't just send them out to burn off that energy playing in the snow. Not having any youngsters currently underfoot, I wonder what the southern equivalent is?

I have been in the mood since before school let out. As most of you know, we had an early, unanticipated Christmas gift during the early morning of December 11 in the form of a brief but fantastic snowfall! So rare in these parts. Last time we had any accumulation was Feb. 1988! Once in 20 years may sound like heaven to those of you who are used to dealing with it regularly. But down in these parts, it is a true Christmas miracle. And believe me judging by the number of folks up at that hour and reveling in it, there were a lot of happy witnesses to the wonder of nature's early holiday present. I had heard we might get some, but being the Ebeneezer I am, I've heard that before and went to bed with "Bah, humbug" on my lips. Upon rising in the dark for work, I went to the window sans contact lenses, and didn't see anything other than the typical blurry brightness under the nearby streetlamp. Muttering something about weather people being boiled in their own Christmas pudding, I proceeded about my morning rituals. When what to my wondering ears should appear, but dear hubby leaving for his morning walk shouting up "IT'S SNOWING!!". Please picture if you will, yours truly out in her flapping nightie in bare feet with camera. Sorry for putting out your minds eye with that image. ;-) But here's proof! (Not of the nightie part, Silly. My mamma didn't raise a fool...-well, maybe one. *chuckle*. After all, what goes on the Internet stays on the Internet for all time in the clouds.) When watching the video below, keep your eye up near the street light. Enjoy!

Brings out the child in me. We have "Hurricane Days" but not "Snow Days".

Thankfully no Highway Patrol were nearby to catch me videoing this!

Savor the sweet anticipation of the day. Wish we could all be together to laugh and enjoy each others company. Merry Christmas to us all and God bless us everyone!

It IS Beginning to look a bit like Christmas!

It is officially Christmas here in southwest Louisiana. It begins when my sister or I call the other one and hold the phone near the radio when Jose Feliciano's "Feliz Navidad" plays ("Feleece Nabeeblah"?!). When did this start?? Ah, family traditions. It has to be turned up loud and always ends with uproarious laughter. This ritual has taken place in some very odd places...the car, in the kitchen while baking cookies, restaurants, Christmas shopping...It has to be a completely serendipitous recording - no fair putting on a CD. The one who calls first wins.

In that vein, I've added new music, did you notice? Jose is first on the list. That one is for you Barb. "I wanna Hippopatomus" is near the end - that one is for you Ash. Click the play button and use your mouse wheel to scroll through the tunes if you want to hear them. I didn't want it to compete with playing the "Elf Yourself" gadget below, so it is not set to autoplay. Anyway, the selections run from the sublime to the ridiculous. Some very traditional, some not. But all remind me of a particular person, a place we lived or a memory. Some make me laugh, others move me to tears. Hope we share one in common. Is one of yours on the list?

I absolutely could not resist posting the dancing elves from Jib Jab. (Thanks to Geneva for starting this whole thing.) It has definitely provided a lot of laughs and cross fire emails from friends and family across the country! If you make one don't forget to send the link to me so I can enjoy it too! Share, share.

Christmas Elves Getting Down

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Autumn Leaves...

Ok, I can take a hint, Ashlin!

Sadly for me, we've moved past Halloween, and now we are getting into "hard core" Autumn down here in Louisiana! How do I know? Grocery store shelves are empty of roux and the appearance of loads of green onions in the produce aisles! Ha! It's GUMBO weather! Last night it dipped into the 40's and the wind was howling. Tonight we're looking at 30's. My heart is singing! I am in my element. Frank is talking fires in the fireplace. Which down here is all about atmosphere, certainly not staying warm.

Thankfully, Thanksgiving and Christmas will keep me feeling festive and speak to my heart. In that vein, I tried to find some typical and atypical tunes for the upcoming holiday. There aren't loads of songs or musical creations specifically devoted to Thanksgiving, so I need help here. Let me know of some I can add. Took the liberty to put some that just say "Fall" or "Blustery" and set the mood. I was amazed - and stayed up way too late - to find loads of sarcastic and (funnily) negative songs and parodies for the holiday. My nod to those is Adam Sandler's, but others, while funny, just don't cut it here. Go forth and find them yourself if interested!

Those of you who have been in our house know this photo "lives" on our fridge. Been there about 24 years now! Ash's first Thanksgiving. It just says it all doesn't it? Party dress, shiny 'Mary Janes', big grin, hair brush in hand getting ready for Granny's approaching arrival from Florida. Bring it on, Party Girl! Turkey anticipation! Look at that face...even then she had that holiday fever. Heh heh, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree!
Thanks to a recent contribution to my photo stash from my sister (and at the risk of dating myself) I can proudly post this picture to prove that we were once kids ourselves. My brother, Tommy, front and center. Barbara and I on the far side of the table. Baby Bruce was but a twinkle in my parent's eyes. This picture was taken when we lived in Virginia Beach in 1954. My mother is on the left with her friend Ruth Barron and her kids. Both were Navy wives and on the back is a notation "men at sea". Our hazy memories tell us our grandmother, Nana, was the photographer. Ah, turkey and milk... triptophan heaven! Life was good in the 50's.

So many memories in our family revolve around the preparation and enjoyment of food. My grandmother (Nana) made her living as Director of Food Services for Jacksonville University. She passed on her interest and love of food preparation to Mom and they both passed it on to me and my sister. It looks like we are growing a fourth "foodie" generation in Ashlin and Stephanie. They carry the torch forward! Reading Barb's blog, you can see the influence these women had on us. (http://smittenbytheword.blogspot.com/)

Not to be outdone by my culinarily gifted sister, Barb, here is a picture of one of my recent "taste tests" - Savory Guiness Stew under a crust layered with stilton. Cool temps, hearty food and beer! (in this case, stout!) What's not to love?

I know Thanksgiving isn't all about the food. Already it's serving it's true purpose in me. I am filled with images, smells, and laughter remembering good times with family & friends, those with me and those not. (...Nana surreptitiously slipping me all the black olives I could eat - to my Mom's annoyance - before they even made it to the table; Uncle Max's "special" hamburgers; Leslie, my cousin proudly baking the bag of giblets inside her first turkey made for the entire family - no giblet gravy that year, but she joined the annals of family lore!) I am blessed and very thankful for my life. And since I don't wish to be maudlin about it, I will close with the words to that immortal Thanksgiving song taught to me when my loving step daughter, Kimberly, came into my life:

"Gobble, Gobble, gobble, gobble, proud turkeys are we.
We strut oh so proudly,
We gobble so loudly!
Gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble,
Proud turkeys are we!"

Something Wicked This Way Comes

At last, we are starting to feel the first stirrings of Fall down here. (Our first cool snap is due tonight and we may see the 50's!!) It is more a change in photoperiod than temperature that is causing the stirrings in me but I will take what I can get! Please use the wheel on your mouse to scroll over the list of Halloween inspired tunes on the left, and click those you wish to hear while you read. Am I missing a good one, your favorite maybe? Let me know, I'll hunt for it to add to the list!

This is my absolute most favorite time of year! Perhaps it is because I was born in the Fall and associate the season with the excitement of my "big day", but I have a true fondness for the coolness, the color changes, and all things spooky at this time of year.
As a child, at the start of school up north, we would be issued these series of English/grammar/lit books at the start of school. They always opened with stories of autumn, raking leaves, pumpkins, smell of woodsmoke - you could burn leaves in the open back then. I particularly remember a story in one of my elementary english books of two children whose father helped them plant pumpkins in the summer to be carved for Halloween. They waited and cared for the vines all summer with diligence and much anticipation. Sadly EVERY single baby pumpkin died, withered or fell off by the big day. They were devastated.... until the kindly next door neighbor asked them when they would pick their pumpkin. Confused, they explained how all the fruit had died. The neighbor drew them into his yard where one lone tendril had found it's way under his fence and there before their eyes was a gorgeous, huge pumpkin!! That story always stuck with me obviously! What a treat. Even the books smelled "fall-ish". I used to open them and breathe deep. (Ha! Little did I know it was the moldy smell of being stored away in a cabinet all summer.) Magical.

My mother always added to the Halloween frenzy. My first real neighborhood of memory (we moved alot) was in Mt. Vernon, Virginia. We landed in a GREAT new neighborhood with lots of kids. The parents planned major Halloween parties with loads of group participation. It was a "moveable feast" from house to house through the woods using ropes strung from tree to tree with rotten tomatoes on them... teenagers dressed as ghosts in the distance warning us not to take our hands off the ropes! Down into a basement for rides on small trains, bobbing for apples and a *shivery scary* visit with "The Witch" for your fortune. The witch had the best, most realistic cackling laugh...and oddly she wore the same rings on her hands that my mother wore! Well, at least she had good taste.

I have always been a true horror movie fan as well, I still am, but some of today's movies are a bit much for me in my advancing age. I can remember the very first horror show I got to see on TV - Frankenstein and the Wolfman! My parents were out of town and we had a lady sitting for us. We had all fallen asleep in front of the tv and I woke up to "Shock Theater". I've been hooked ever since and spent many, many hours at Saturday matinees at the Beach or Bayne Theater in Virginia Beach - The Seven Skulls of Jonathan Drake, The Beast from the Haunted Cave, The Tingler and The Tell-Tale Heart....classics of B movie genre!

So in honor of the season, next weekend we will be dusting off "It's a Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!" and "Garfield's Halloween Adventure" (thank you, Kimberly) which is an entirely underrated seasonal cartoon with Lou Rawls as Garfield's singing voice. Here's hoping for even cooler temps and looking for some of those chills up our spines -one of the channels is airing a week of classic scary movies. Eeee! Pass the popcorn please!

The Saga of "The Door" - Ta Da!

Many of you have been following along with the sad tale of "THE DOOR".

For those not in the know, we have been trying to replace our front door ever since Hurricane Rita hit in Sept,2005. (Did you know that Rita was the 4th most intense Atlantic storm ever recorded? You would never know it from all the press that Katrina is still getting.)

Anyway we had many, many delays...lack of contractors, vendors disappearing, lost invoices, 4 separate doors ordered and sent back for wrong color, warped, cupped, inadequate installation...yada yada. I mean, really! It's just a door! Ok, it was custom and mahogany but still. We could have built an entire neighborhood of houses in the meantime. (Let it go, Cathie.)

We finally found a business in Houston (http://www.southernfront.com/ I highly recommend them) who custom makes doors, frames and glass inserts to your specifications and patterns. They had it done in less than 6 weeks, the center is twice as thick as the original pattern we had chosen, and the cost was almost half what the original local vendor asked. It is nice and heavy and is seated perfectly in the frame that came with it. Plus they were able to do a transom to match which none of the others could. It has an old world New Orleans feel to it. (Just what every colonial style house needs! ;-))

The overhanging portico on our front door was twisted in Rita, Ike bumped it a bit more and separated it slightly from the front of the house on one side. So we got new columns and re-aligned/attached the portico also.

So finally after 3 years! Don't you love a story with a happy ending?

Back to our Routine

School is officially back. I have to say it was not as chaotic as I expected. However my classes are down about one third from their original numbers. *Sigh* Very sad. I expect a few may come trickling back after dealing with FEMA, insurance agencies and contractors. The longer they stay away, the less likely they are to return.

The day of the mandatory evacuation was our magical "12th Day" of classes. 12th day is the day the state of Texas takes it's enrollment counts and awards your funding for the semester. We have been "sweating bullets" that they would take their counts on the day we returned when our numbers were abysmal. We are now doing the "Happy Dance". Texas took our counts from the last full day before the storm. Whoo hooo.... lucky, lucky.

The calm before a new storm

Well, it's back to school officially for the students tomorrow. We teachers returned last week. How different it will be. How do you cram 7 buildings worth of students and classes into one building for an indefinite length of time? VERY CAREFULLY!! and with alot of humor. We've been joking that for many of us teaching conditions will harken back to the 60's! *gasp* No technology! Shadow puppets anyone? ;-)

This should be interesting to say the least. But everyone, including me, is very ready to resume our lives and move on. We just want to salvage the semester for us all. It will also be interesting to see just how many of our students return and to hear their stories.

Wish us luck!

A Peek Into Our World

We hear so much about the devastation of Galveston and Houston. And believe me, they are significant, but let me show you what you aren't seeing on the news.

These photos were sent by a co-worker/friend of the Bridge City area just south of Orange from where we draw a significant number of our faculty and students. Out of 3,500 homes in this town, only 14 homes, (yes! I said 14) did not have any storm surge flooding in them. Sadly my department head is one of the unlucky ones... doubly so. Not only did she lose her entire home, but her building at school was flooded - she lost her office contents and her classroom contents too. It takes a special kind of strength to keep going after that.

http://smilebox.com/playEmail/4e4463774d54557a4d4877354d6a457a4f544d320d0a&sb=1

Recovery

As promised, here is a link to some photos showing a little of the damage to our school. There are captions under the pictures, so if you are on a laptop, you may need to scroll down to see them.

Sorry for the delay, I was trying a couple of ways to include these with some dialog. Maybe next time.

Please remember that all this cleanup work is being done pretty much in the darkness of the buildings and no air conditioning. It is dirty, hot and extremely smelly work... as in *GAG*. (The dead fish from the river had been taken away already thankfully when these shots were taken.) I could only include pics of those buildings we could get into. The speed at which the remediation teams and our staff are working is phenomenal. As you can see alot of the walls were cut down just a few days post Ike to prevent molding.

The school is like a ghost town otherwise, no cars, no people except the few you see in the pics.

The admin is estimating that we will be back open for classes by Monday, October 6. (Probably sans walls etc.) They are also hinting that we will not have a Christmas break and will forgo our usual "mini" sessions and run right through til Christmas Eve and then up to Winter session. Should make for a very interesting school year.

While you are watching, try and imagine if this were your office or home.....

"LSCO & Ike" Slideshow

Unbelievable

Today I drove into Orange to see my school and give moral support to a friend. I wasn't quite prepared for what I saw. Took lots of pictures and will get them posted tomorrow, so stay tuned.

Meanwhile, thanks to Sula for sending a link to some excellent photos of the area including Galveston. Pictures Number 20 and 24 were taken right by my school. I pass this cemetery every day on my way to work. So sad.

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/09/the_short_but_eventful_life_of.html

Til tomorrow....

Another day in Paradise

Actually it was a bit like Paradise today. That high pressure from the north that pushed Ike to the west of us has brought us 2 days of glorious, dry and cool weather. I actually had all the windows open all day today and the breezes gently blew through the house. So nice....

Got a message that any faculty or staff at our school who had offices on the first floor of any building except mine will be allowed to "look & leave" their offices tomorrow between 9am and 1pm to remove any personal items. I may run over to see if I can help some of those who need it carry stuff and to see the damage for myself.

I was in the checkout line at SAM's today and thought I recognized the lady ahead of me. She turned and it was obvious she knew me. "Aren't you Mrs. P?" That clinched it. She had to be one of my students - we've only met in class about 3 times so far so I still don't know them all. She ran up and hugged me. "So you're shopping all the way over here too?" she asked. When I told her no, I live here, she was surprised and seemed delighted for me(?!). She was with her mother and her young daughter and they had driven in from Vidor, TX just to get provisions. Said they weathered the storm alright, but her mother had to leave her damaged home to live with them and they still had no power. You just have to feel bad for folks. And she was so concerned about what would happen to the semester. Don't you love a student like that?

On an entirely different, non-storm related note, those of you who have been following the continuing saga of our front door, you'll be happy to know that we took delivery of the latest replacement long before the hurricane hit! But it has been sitting in our garage in it's crate ever since...yes, the cars had to sit out in the driveway during the storm. A bit worrisome. But installation day is scheduled for next Monday!! Yay! At that time we will be getting brand new columns and have the porch overhang re-attached to the house. It had been twisted and loosened in an earlier storm and this one just clinched it. The installer is finally available. Whoo hoo!

On that happy note, I will go into that good night and dream sweet dreams!

The difference a day makes

What a gorgeous day! 72 degrees, dry and brilliant! We haven't seen that since last March! Here's hoping it stays this way for a little longer.

Got the electronic call from my school last night. It seems EVERY building on campus except one - mine (!)- received some degree of flooding. Good grief. We don't have a huge campus, but still....

The message also said that we would not be re-opening for "at least 2 weeks"! However, our school website says 1 to 2 weeks. So who knows? This is not good on so many levels. We are just a small school with just under 2,000 students. When Hurricane Rita came through a few years ago we lost around 15% of our student body who just didn't return. It had taken us this long just to try and rebuild to original numbers. We will be trying to salvage the rest of the semester so my guess is we will run deeper into December than planned - possibly right up to the 24th. But we roll with the punches, eh?

A friend who evacuated to Jackson, Miss and has returned safely says there were folks from Orange,TX at their hotel too. (How we scatter!) She reports that the local Lake Charles Albertsons had milk yesterday. But it was cordoned off and not for sale. The thought is that it may be spoilage that hasn't been removed yet. So no milk for sale there, but plenty of the important stuff was available - beer and wine! Happily, the store appeared to be in the process of re-stocking items so they must have gotten a truck through.

An ex-grad student of Frank's stopped by last night to check on us. He's with DEQ now and is working emergency operations during this storm episode. He said he was happy to see we had power, but not to count on it. We aren't out of the woods yet. With all the work on the grid they are doing, there could be interruptions. He reports that Baton Rouge is still suffering in a big way without power from Gustav. Bucket trucks from all over are traversing between the Baton Rouge and Houston area. He doesn't carry a gun and won't go into certain areas between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. He says locals will sometimes fire on anyone - even police - who come near. *Sheesh* Only in Louisiana.

Another friend who evacuated to Dallas tried to drive to Beaumont yesterday to check on his home. Couldn't get in. Too many roads flooded. Decided to turn back and make the long (~5 hours) drive back. He reports that many gas stations between the 2 cities are without power to pump gas and those that have power are running low on gas.

Ah, the ripple effect. Like I said in an earlier post, the actual storm is only the tip of the iceberg. It's the aftermath that seems to go on forever.

I am hearing from so many friends and family from distant places via emails! This is great. I never thought something like this would take off like it has. I highly recommend it. (Just a reminder that it is ok for any of you to post a comment here. Have at it if the spirit moves you.)

Ok, I'm off to do some school work and try and get ahead of the curve. Making lemonade down here.

Ike Day +1

I can't believe this, but it is raining gently but steadily today. This is more rain than we got with the hurricane. Very strange.

We are still fine and dandy here as long as we don't try to go out and actually do anything. Most stores and services are closed. Not enough people here to work them. And the grocery store shelves were pretty empty before Ike hit anyway as they had only been partially re-stocked after Gustav.

Reports show that the real worry has come to pass...storm surge. While Lake Charles did not get the brunt of the storm, many places here in town are totally underwater. Thankfully most have peaked and are on the down side, but this rain can't help.

Hearing from work friends who evacuated and those that didn't. Orange, TX got hit pretty badly and Bridge City is cut off from the world due to flooding. We draw most of our students and faculty from there (and Beaumont). So I don't know what to think about school re-opening tomorrow or the next day.
Here are pictures from the area around my school and some of the streets leading to the school:
http://kogt.smugmug.com/gallery/5953607_Nn2hu#P-1-16

On page 1, pictures #7 (police car on the feeder road next to I-10), #10 & #11 show roads that I drive on to get to or around the school. Pretty sad....

Aftermath

So we are gradually working our way out from under the wind. But now have tornado watches everywhere til 7:30 p.m. I have been receiving tidbits of information from various sources around us. My school is right on the Sabine river. Parts of the school are flooded as the levee broke nearby. Apparently "whitecaps" were seen as far inland as a couple of miles from the break. One report I had is that my building is ok - my office is on the second floor thankfully. But several friends from school have flooded homes and only just recovered and rebuilt this past Spring from Hurricane Rita back in 05. *sigh* What a mess.

Frank's school is closed at least through Monday. No word on mine, but would be surprised if we open. Have to give time for evacuees to return and the city of Orange, TX is closed right now. No one allowed in or out right now.

On a happier note, 3 of our hummingbirds came back today. Fighting over the new bottles of food. Two out of 13 of our racoon horde showed up last night around 10:00 pm for food. But only one juvenile showed up today during daylight hours for food. Must have been starving to risk it during the day. It even stayed and ate while Frank was chopping up the downed limbs.

My apologies for the hokey music....how many of you recognize the song? Hmmm??? It was the theme song for the old 1972 movie "The Poseidon Adventure"! I feel like we've lived an Irwin Allen adventure. (Later: I have turned off the "autoplay" feature now; it's getting annoying. If you want to hear it, scroll to the very bottom of this page and press the play button.)

Thanks to all of you who have touched bases and touched my heart. The blog comments, emails and calls kept our spirits up - especially last night during the unknown. Humor is a wonderful thing. Stay in touch! Feel free to comment or join as a "Follower". Heh heh Makes me feel somewhat Messianic!!

We're Alive!

And we have electicity! That's the truly amazing thing.

It is still blowing up a storm out there... (get it?)! Not as bad as last night, but still pretty stiff breeze. -- Whoa, just got hit by a MAJOR gust.

Why do these things always go "bump" in the night? There is something so primeval about huddling in our"cave" in the dark, praying to the gods that this too shall pass and contemplating the mysteries of it all. I understand completely why early mankind thought these events were manifestations of living things.

But I digress ;-) ....

Got very little real sleep last night. I was convinced that the large oak tree in the front yard by the driveway was going to crash on the house. And of course IF it did, it would land on my side of the bed. So did I sleep downstairs? Oh no, Frank was in bed already and I figured if the tree fell then the three of us would go out together. (oh did I mention the cat was in the bed too. Had you worried didn't I?)

Raining horizontally and very dark at this moment. Wait 5 minutes and it will brighten....

Here is the "after" picture of our back yard so you can get a feel. Very little damage, just messy:

So we are alive and well at the moment. I don't think we are entirely out of the woods yet given the windy conditions and the rising water in the bayous and lakes. But I'm feeling pretty good about it now that the light god has returned! What a ride.

And then...

The lights have flickered several times. Heard some pops and loud bangs from a block or so away. But still have power obviously.

The wind is still loud and scary forceful, and it is HOT and muggy out. But still very little rain. Odd. Can hear a chirruping frog or bird in the bush/dirt outside the window. I'll take that as a positive sign...

Will try and get some sleep.
Good luck with that.

I should have gone to bed...

Ok, so I stayed up reading stuff on the internet. Dumb. Now I'm not sure I'll be able to sleep. It's a bit scary sounding out there. And it's pushing on the house which is creaking. Maybe I should go put my red and white striped tights and ruby slippers on....oh wait, that's tornadoes. I wonder what the hurricane equivalent is...

Air pressure is doing funny things. I decided to go outside and see what it's like and couldn't get the front door open without some tugging. Like it was being held closed by someone on the other side. Whooooooooooo.

Dang... unnerving.

No Country for old men.... or Women either!

It's blowing pretty well and steady outside and now getting a bit more rain. Even so, I think we may make it out of this without any damage. We still have power. Whoo hooo.... I really wasn't looking forward to 98 degree heat and humidity for days on end. Actually, we do have a generator and a small window unit to sleep by, but still....

Our local weather is saying it should reach peak in our area around 2:00 a.m. but I am not staying up for that.

So hi ho, hi ho... it's off to bed I go. If the storm blows hard and wakes me up I will add something here if we still have power.

Otherwise, a demain Chers!

9:00 p.m. Update

Well, we definitely have some wind going on out there now. We are on the wrong side of the storm.... the side that gets the water. And it is "spittin'" too. But I really think we have dodged a bullet here. Lucky, lucky.

The Martins - our neighbors down the street on the bayou - reported around 7 pm that the bayou level had risen and was half way up their back yard. That's how far it made it up when Rita blew through. I think the tides are different for this storm. More storm surge expected.

They just showed a water rescue on TV down around Cameron parish. And Galveston is getting lashed. But thankfully, the storm didn't intensify as much as they expected. *Whew*

The bad news is that it is such a HUGE storm area wise. (Jim Cantore - the Weather Channel James Bond dude - says it is larger than all New England states put together!) So we will be wet for another 24 hours from it.

More later....

Waiting on Ike

Folks have been calling and showing concern for us, so I will try and put updates every hour or so until/if we lose power!

I think we are as ready as we can be. We have loads of batteries, candles, food, & water. We've moved everything that's loose from the backyard and have filled the bathtubs with water to flush toilets should we lose power. We have gas in the cars - though where we would go is beyond me. West will get the major brunt of the storm. East is still without power due to hurricane Gustav. Ike is due to hit Galveston, loop up thru Houston, curve around to Dallas and go north of us, so north is out.

So far, this whole hurricane thing has been very low key; almost a non-event. Yay! After Rita in 'o5, I have no desire to live like that again. Ike is supposed to be affecting us later tonight into morning tomorrow. But nothing much to report so far.

Very breezy, lots of leaf debris in the yard, the odd burst of showers. But so far, so good!

Welcome to my Blog!

Decided to set this up to allow friends and family to stay current and to have a place to post things going on in my life.