S-S-S Saturda Ni- IGHT!
E and I were far enough west to keep out of the clutches of Hurricane Ike. I kept an eye on it, though b/c my family lives about 40 minutes north of Houston. I called them all day yesterday to make sure that they were fully stocked on supplies, etc. As of yesterday 7pm, Ma and Dad, my sis, Del, and big bro Oscar were ready to "hunker down". I stayed up until 1am watching the weather channel before I sacked in. I got up at 6:30am and sent my sis a text since I saw that Ike moved inland. She called me and she was freaked out- scared. I could hear the wind squealing like crazy in the background. The last hurricane that came through was over 20 years ago and it was a Cat 1- Alicia. I remember that being a pretty lousy experience. Well, Ike was more than double that chaos. I stayed in touch with sis to calm her down and since they lost power, I was my family's connection to the outside world. I gave them updates on the storm and what to expect. By the time the last of it rolled through, I was exhausted and had to get in some sleep around 1pm. Once Ike rolled through, my family was left with no electricity and they will be that way for 2-3 weeks. My brother's neighborhood is flooded although he kept the water out of his house, thankfully. My parents were hit the hardest, though. My dad's treasured flagpole lays in his front yard along with tree branches so large that my parents can't get out into their front yard. The dogs are STILL afraid to go outside. My parents' entire front fence is completely down and their back yard gate is blocked by a tree,so the furthest they can go is their back yard. Yeah, they are sorta trapped, but thankfully, they will have plenty of food, water, and medicine to hold them until someone can clear a way for them. I am thankful that everyone is ok and my Ma says everything else is material. Her faith is strong and she is completely stoked by the fact that her Jesus bird bath was the only thing in the front yard that wasn't laid to waste. LOL Now as I sit in my well lit apartment watching the tube, I think about my family who will be sitting in their dark, candle lit homes, with no connection to the outside world, with an impending mess to clean, and NO AC IN THE TEXAS HEAT. I can't imagine the boredom. There's nowhere to go because all the neighbors and businesses are in the same boat. The only thing to eat is peanut butter and other packaged food. UGH... 2 to 3 wks of all that!!! I am going to try and get out there next weekend to help with the clean up. Next week will be my brother's birthday (he passed away 3 years ago) Interestingly enough, when he was a little boy, he went by the nickname, IKE. When I look at the symbolism of this storm to my family's loss of my brother, it all kind of makes sense. And that's all I have to say about that....