My Excuse Is Not a Hurricane

My 92-year old aunt lives with her daughter and son-in-law in Houston, and we got word a few days ago from Dave that the ladies had headed for the hills, as it were. Rita was coming, and any hill, small as it might have been, further inland in Texas was better than being a dozen feet above sea level and a few dozen miles from the coast. They went up to somewhere around Dallas to stay with family while Dave stayed behind to "batten down the hatches". By the time he was ready to leave, the mayor was telling people to hunker down somewhere safe where they were and not try to evacuate. Dave had already figured out that the fuel issue was a big one, and decided to weather the storm.

He wrote four e-mails describing his preparations at various stages, including the first clouds that belied the intensity of what was to come. This was the last message at 6:30 p.m. or so. He said he was waiting for the power to fail, and it apparently has. I'm certain he's fine...just "powerless" to let us know so. Houston and Galveston seem to have missed the worst part...good news for some, but not necessarily for those a bit further east. Sobering events of nature.

The clouds have thickened to the point it seems sunset has occurred an hour or two early. The winds continue off and on as the storm bands move across the area. The trees are beginning to sway quite a bit. No more than most of us are accustomed to seeing during a summer thunderstorm so that's not really a big deal. Of course its only a preview of what will come overnight. According to the radar we should begin to get the rain within the next hour.

I'm still finding last minute things to do around the house. Since there's nowhere for the rainwater to drain from the backyard (totally enclosed by privacy fence) I've propped the gate to the back yard open so the rain can escape, hopefully without getting so deep it comes in the patio doors like it did when Alisen hit a couple years back...we got 18 inches of rain that time. I managed to lift the freezer on the patio in order to get a couple of 4X4's under it to keep it out of the water as long as possible. And I have parked the car (garage too full to put it inside) parallel to the garage door. If anybody passes by I suspect they will do a double take since it looks pretty weird parked at that angle. If the Community Association compliance people were to come by I'm sure I will get a letter telling me I am in some kind of violation for parking my car that way. I think I'll blame it the storm winds :-)

I had anticipated things would be worse than they are by now. But I'm not complaining. The extra time has given me the opportunity to get a little better organized. All I have to do now is wait for the power to fail...and hopefully...come back very soon.

Hunkered Down Dave



Here, the weather has been very good. And the power hasn't gone off, so I can't blame the utility company for my not blogging. This morning, I did finish the last of the translation work I had on hand, though, so maybe I can get to some further bloggable items next week. Jackie has gotten her reports, but she hasn't gotten to see the doctor yet for his interpretation of them. We'll keep you posted on that, and I have not forgotten that I still have the report of the last few days of our trip to Ukraine to post. With no Katrina or Rita or their next of kin due here, I'm thankful that's one excuse I won't have if I don't post.

UPDATE: Just in from Dave:

Just got power back a few minutes after 5pm this afternoon. It was a looooong night but I actually slept through some of it. There's going to be a lot of cleaning up to do but aside from that no damage. I'll try to say more later when things calm down a little.

Delighted Dave