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What is it with all of these people and their great lists this week? Man, oh, man. You MUST go over to Linda’s place and read her list of political vernacular through the lense of motherhood. I have all but quit listening to the news, so weary am I and ready for this whole election to BE DONE ALREADY. . .but this post is priceless.
(BTW–she has lots of gee-gaws on her site, so it may take it a minute to load up. Be patient. It’s worth it.)
I have been friends with Sarah for a long, long time. Long. Time. While hurricane Ike was visiting my neck of the Gulf coast, Sarah had a birthday. I didn’t send her a card. She, however, has come up with the best list of 39 wisdoms to celebrate her years on the planet, and I can’t say it any better than she did.
I CAN say that all those years ago when God flung us into Ms. Mallis’s class together, He did it because He loved us and He knew we needed each other. Sarah says “bless” a lot as in: bless him, bless her, bless his/her/their heart. I don’t know if she realizes how much she really does that–blessing us all I mean.
She is a gift and a treasure.
Love you, S–.
R–
As I was on the phone with mom at 4:39 this afternoon, I was staring at my open refrigerator and freezer doors and said, “I’ve been keeping the fridge doors open so it won’t stink, but I need to remember to close them tomorrow when we go to school in case the power comes on. . .” and BAM!!! The lights in my fridge came on and we had power. Just like that. There should have been confetti cannons–or a balloon drop–or someone striking up a band. Instead, it. Just. Was.
Power. . .Power. . .POWER.
I still stand by my statement that power is a luxury–but it is a luxury that I, personally, enjoy. Beyond my love of reading all of your blogs, I love–EVEN MORE–air conditioning, washers and dryers, dish-washers, and vacuum cleaners. Yesterday I attended the funeral of an older friend, and I had to blow dry my bangs in the car, then go to my in-laws in town to iron clothes. Not only do I enjoy it, but my 8 days, 13 hours, and 9 minutes without power have given me time to think of several things.
1.) There is a REASON people used to go to bed really early–’cause when it gets dark, it is WAY too much work to try and have enough light by which to do anything at all. Candles are wonderful for ambience and/or scent, but they are NOT such a good source of light. Same for flashlights–a lot of work to hold–same for battery operated Coleman lanterns (we got one on loan from a friend on Friday night) because the light is very, very bright but also very, very obnoxious.
2.) Multi-tasking is a modern day, appliance driven phenomena. I am not trying to take away any respect from the women of yester-year. They were hard-working, thrifty, strong women–but multi-tasking as we know it in the modern world is totally dependent on appliances that are run my power. For example: I will throw a load of clothes in the washer, a load of dishes in the OTHER washer, and some sort of food in the microwave while I cook even more food on my gas stove WHILE I talk on my cordless phone. The only one of those things I can do without power is cook on my gas stove. And, without power, if I need to wash dishes–I have BOTH of my hands washing dishes. If I need to cook–I have both of my hands busy with the business of cooking. Thankfully, I did not have to wash any clothing by hand in the sink as a friend let me come and does some laundry at her house on Thursday AND we had done laundry before the storm hit.
3.) It is a little thing–and one that is like riding a bike evidently–but I had to reheat things in pots on the stove or covered in foil in the oven. I cannot tell you the last time I re-heated left-overs thusly. I know how. I grew up watching my mom and Granny do it. We didn’t get our first microwave until I was 12 or 13, and my Granny NEVER owned a microwave. It is something I am SO glad I don’t have to do anymore. It is just ONE MORE THING to add to your list of things to do. . .reheating food by oven takes a long time y’all.
4.) You, most certainly, can survive–even thrive without electricity. I, personally, don’t recommend a 200+ mile wide hurricane to take your power from you, but I challenge all of you to do without power for a night. Come home from school and work, but don’t turn on anything electric until the following day. You will find ways to be creative with your family–a lot more reading goes on–a lot more card games get played–a lot more bikes get ridden–a lot more knees get scraped.
For our 8 days without power, I am so thankful to God that our family and friends made it safely through this storm–the damages to our homes and to us were MINIMAL, and it gave us another memory to weave into the fabric of our lives. Now, I have every ceiling fan in my home on–several completely unnecessary lights, AND the t.v. A little indulgence never hurt anyone. 
I am at a friend’s house doing laundry. There are pockets around that have power, but our pocket is still powerless. As of this morning, we heard possibly Monday for electricity for us. Sarah has done a great job of keeping you updated. And I did, indeed, say that power is a luxury and water (including sewer) is a necessity. . .and still believe it to be true. We are happy to have gas for hot water and cooking and showers, and gas stations and grocery stores around where we can get ice. That is we can NOW get ice. We didn’t see hide nor hair of even one little ice cube between Saturday and Wednesday. Luke-warm water is one thing, people, but as I cracked open my luke-warm bottle of Diet Coke, Tony, knowing how I LOATHE drinking warm soft drinks, raised an eyebrow as if to say, “You have sunk to an all time low, dear.” My reply? “Desperate times call for desperate measures.”
Thank you for all of your well-wishes and thoughts and prayers. They at least influenced the weather. It has been gloriously cool and dry. The night of the hurricane we had power until about 3:30 a.m. It was stuffy for most of that day because we couldn’t open windows until the rain had passed. It was coming from a different direction every minute. After it DID pass, it was abysmally hot. The weatherman was discussing the dew point (which is what determines humidity.) He said, “Sixty is sticky, seventy is sultry, eighty is AWFUL, and we’re at seventy-nine.” It was, needless to say, BAD. But the cool front came through, so we’ve been fine ever since.
Meanwhile, I’m off to see if the rumor is true that FEMA will fully reimburse the cost of a generator if you are without power for 5 days. More than anything, I’d like to have a refrigerator–the one luxury besides air-conditioning that I miss.
Still me — Sarah. Talked to Roxanne again today. I just KNEW she would be in Louisiana, where I would be if I had no air conditioning, internet, laundry capability (we THINK we hate it — try living without it!), or ice! Nope! She is still right there in Houston with no power. They seemed to be having a grand adventure, cooking all of the food from their freezer and sharing it with the neighbors (they have a gas stove). This morning was sausage and biscuits, tonight it was meatballs and fish. She wasn’t sure what type of cuisine that would be classified as, other than disaster cooking. They had actually been … somewhere, some station, not sure .. and gotten ice and she was most happy since she has been slurping warm Diet Coke for 3 days (oh, you aren’t addicted enough if you think you wouldn’t in the same situation).
Her school district — where both she and her husband teach AND her children attend — has been canceled for at least the remainder of the week. Which, she concedes, would be much more fun if she had electricity, but they are definitely ‘making do’. They light candles — the ones students have given her over the years that she hated the way they smelled — in the evenings, play a game or two of ‘Apples to Apples’ (which I hear is great fun but still haven’t played) then turn in, all windows open. She said the weather hasn’t been too bad this week after a cool front brought temperatures down to tolerable.
Her husband’s parents do have electricity, so they are considering a load or two of laundry over there, since they are getting to the bottom of clean things. As I mentioned (I think) in the earlier post, they do have clean, running water, and gas for the stove (and I guess for hot water for showers? not sure). Roxanne’s comment was, “Electricity is a luxury, clean water is a necessity.” To which I say, “Whatever, dude.” I, personally, wasn’t cut out to be a pioneer woman, but if ever I need to make it post-natural disaster, I’m going to live with Roxanne.
I’ll fill you in as I hear more!
This is Sarah, checking in for Roxanne. I’m sure you see the resemblance — other than me being about 6 inches shorter than Roxanne, we’re very much alike. We flail our hands constantly while speaking, we have long hair that we flip to and fro (Roxanne is actually MUCH more of a hair flipper than I am), and, as currently evidenced, we both enjoy a good rabbit trail of inconsequential details while relaying a story, or in this case, message!
So Ike visited Roxanne and her family over the weekend. He shut down power (hence my appearance here), blew down some trees, and knocked over part of the fence. Other than that, all is well with them. All of her husband’s family, that also lives in the area, are okay as well. Roxanne thought they may leave and go to her mother’s house in Louisiana, depending on how long the power would be out. Since millions are without power, I’m guessing it will be for more than a day or two.
I’ll post again if requested. Until then, continue to keep them in your prayers!
Sarah, for Roxanne
See below for our current state of hurricane readiness. Preparation and anticipation have been so high on the agenda that I’ve not yet posted about the fact that WE HAVE A SLAB. . .WE HAVE A SLAB. . .WE HAVE A SLAB!!!!!!!! They poured it yesterday in advance of the storm. It was about 96-98 degrees here, so the slab baked all day long, and was dry when we got out there yesterday around 4:30. It’s beautiful–and storm proof–so even if a big pine tree falls on it, we can just move the tree and keep on building.
I’m not quite sure how it got to be 3 o’clock. I’m about to go out and sit in the pre-hurricane wind with my family. Tropical storm winds will reach out house at about 6:00 p.m. Please continue to pray as they are now predicting that ALL of Galveston island will be submerged. Almost everyone evacuated, but the houses and livelihoods of many hang in the balance.
Well, Houston and Galveston have dodged the proverbial hurricane bullet since Alicia hit in the early ’80’s. (Allison was officially a tropical storm–not a hurricane–and it’s damage was caused because it settled over the top of town and dumped 16+ inches of rain in 36 hours.) We are on deck for Ike. Right now it doesn’t appear that it’s going to be over a category 3 (sustained winds of 120 mph), but the sheer size of the storm is already pushing Gulf water onto Galveston island. In other words, the storm won’t actually “hit” until 1:00 a.m., and the eye won’t pass over until around 4:00 a.m., but the island is already flooding due to the storm surge. A storm surge this high 16 hours in advance of the storm does not bode well for the coastal areas.
We are staying here this time–no evacuating with snakes in my purse. Our vehicles have gas, we have canned goods and bottled water as well as a gas stove and propane. Tonight before bed, I’ll fill the tubs up with water just in case–and because it’s what my Momma did when hurricanes hit Louisiana when I was young. (You can drink it if you need to, but you can also use it flush the toilet.) Because the winds circle around from the north in a hurricane, we will sleep in Thad’s room, because his north wall is solid with no window. I’m not THAT worried about the windows failing, but it will get rather noisy. If the electricity is going to be out for more than a day or two, we will go Momma’s house.
As loud and scary as things will be for us, the streets of Galveston island are already flooding while the sun shines and there is no rain yet. After the 1900 hurricane, the residents of the island built a 17 foot high sea wall, then elevated the rest of the island to that level. Think about that for a moment–the island is 17 feet above sea level, waves are up to the top of the sea wall and going over (at low tide by the way), and the storm is still 16 hours away. The storm is on track to hit at high tide which will raise the waves and storm surge 3-4 feet.
Please, pray for those people whose homes are on the island, as well as those in the coastal areas. All of the coast was/is under a mandatory evacuation, and most people left, but there are still those who have refused which puts law enforcement and emergency workers in jeopardy, so pray for them too.
Now, while we wait, time for some history. Before I moved to Houston, I was totally unaware of the worst natural disaster in recorded U.S. History–the great storm of 1900 that all but destroyed Galveston island and killed 6,000+ people. The number is not known exactly because of huge numbers of people who were never found. You can go to this website if you are interested in learning more.
Facts about the 1900 Storm:
• 8.7 feet: The highest elevation on Galveston Island in 1900.
• 15.7 feet: The height of the storm surge.
• 28.55 inches: Barometric pressure recorded in Galveston, 30 miles from where the eye of the storm is best estimated. At the time, this was the lowest barometric pressure ever recorded.
• 6,000 to 8,000: Number of people estimated to have died during the storm.
• 37,000 people: Population of Galveston in 1900.
• 3,600: Number of buildings destroyed by the storm.
• 130 to 140 miles per hour: Speed meteorologists estimate the winds reached during the storm.
• $20 million: Estimated damage costs related to the storm. In today’s dollars, that would be more than $700 million.
When I called T.’s mom tonight. . .
Me:”Well, the other day when I asked him to stop making comments he said, ‘That wasn’t a COMMENT. That was a STATEMENT.”
Her:”Oh. No. He. Did. Not. Uh-uh. . .that boy has NOT been on this planet long enough to correct either you OR me. No, ma’am.”
I expect to see a drastic decrease in the number of comments. . .I mean statements. . .from T. tomorrow.
Oh. . .I had WONDERFUL plans to show you MONTHS of photos that we didn’t get put on the computer this summer due to the fact that the hard drive was WAY too small and the wouldn’t fit. So I finally got them on the computer and had Titles of Blogs all running around in my mind tra-la.
Alas, the photo editing program has not been loaded back onto the computer yet, so there is just NO STINKIN’ WAY I can get photos to you as they must be resized and saved, etc.
Maybe next weekend.
For now, the form has been reset on the house, and we watched at the plumbers put the plumbing BACK in yesterday. We are hopeful that a slab is just around the corner if Ike doesn’t come our way and ruin even MORE plans.
Please say a prayer for Becky over at How It Fits. She just had #5, and everyone is thrilled with cute, sweet, Baby Ella, but 5 means that 1 mommy is WAY outnumbered. . .even when grandparents are on their way.
While you’re at it, please continue to pray for Kathleen and Joan. Joan has at least one more week in the hospital, and Kathleen finished her course of antibiotics today. As you can imagine, having your newborn in the hospital the first 4 weeks of her life is not how one wants to begin that particular relationship. . .especially when there is a big brother at home and schedules can’t be set and nursing had to be halted and started and halted. . .add to that some “friends” of the family who are in the same neighborhood and who attend the same church and mother’s day out basically treating Kathleen, and therefore Patrick, as though they have @IDS. There are seriously people who will not be in the same room with either of them because Kathleen had a staph infection, and these are not folks who have weakened immune systems or are being treated for cancer or @IDS themselves. . .just regular folk who are having a knee-jerk reaction to something that many of us come in contact with on a daily basis without even knowing it. Kathleen even had been feeling guilty for “letting” us come to see them when she knew the baby had an infected finger–even though she DIDN’T know if was staph. I told Kathleen that my children had been in and out of surgical areas and hospitals–as had I–the entire time Daddy was here (not to mention the bathrooms in a public school) and that I felt seeing her in their house was much safer than that. AND I hope Ms. You-Are-Infected-With-Staph-You-Are-A-Leper does not have anyone enter the hospital or Dr.’s office where this strain of staph is rampant ’cause it’s WAY more dangerous there than on the playground at Mother’s Day Out.
All of this combined has left Kathleen feeling more than a little blue and out of sorts.
Off to face another week of 8th graders. At least I got a GOOD nap.
