Hurricane Ike

One week ago today, Hurricane Ike roared ashore in Galveston, Texas and continued pretty much right up (north) I45. Joe and I spent much of the early morning (beginning about 4am) and the day experiencing the winds of the left eye wall. It was pretty scary. We were without electricity for 5 days having power restored at 10pm Thursday evening. Thank God for the mild temperatures in the days after the storm. Joe and I have fared very well. We had no damage to our house. The big issue for us along with millions of other people was not having electricity. Our generator developed a carburetor problem from the start and refused to work. Joe was really frustrated about that. Once we gave up and emptied out our fridge; he was fine. Once I got over not having tv; I was fine. I am so glad to have the BlackBerry as I could check email, text and get online. Unbelievably, the newspaper delivery resumed immediately; so Joe read the paper in the mornings and I knit. In fact, I knit thru the day most days. Passing time in the evenings was a bit more difficult as there isn't a lot you can do by candle light or lantern. I missed the little book light that I had given to Alexis back during the early Summer. I plan to get another to put on the hurricane shelf with the other supplies. We had to learn how to occupy our time without all our electronic stuff. I found that we could: 1- charge my BlackBerry in the car without having to drive around 2 - boil water with the propane tank for coffee in the mornings (this was a biggie) 3 - read more - Joe had two fairly new books that I had gotten him 4 - listen to the battery powered radio I had gotten at Walgreens for $5 before Ike 5 - sit on the back porch and listen to the hummingbirds who stayed during the storm 6 - take warmish baths mid-day after the sun heated the pipes in the attic After watching Katrina and then personally experiencing Rita, I never thought I would ever again see hurricane devastation that would exceed either of those storms. I was wrong. It has been absolutely horrific and mind-numbing. I am one of the many Houston area residents suffering from PSS - Post Storm Stress. Our 5 days without electricity are trivial compared to what others are now experiencing. I know the loss many people are trying to cope with and it is heartbreaking. They are in my prayers. I did hear something on the radio that made me proud. A lady said that Hurricane Ike was a bad thing but we are in the best place to be when something bad happens - TEXAS. She was so right!