Friday Five: Storms of Life

Hurricane Alley

Martha brings today's Friday Five for RevGalBlogPals:

1) What's the most common kind of storm in your neck of the woods?
Hurricane Season goes from May 1 to October 1 around the Gulf Coast of Texas, so that is the most common FEAR. (This is also the time period that we pay attention to the storms growing in Hurricane Alley, pictured above.)

Probably the most recurring storm is a thunderstorm, and we've been having various thunderstorms passing through here today. Lots of rain, so when the rain stops, the steam arises!

2) When was the last time you dealt with a significant power outage?
We are lucky that we do not have power outages too often. The worst is having one in the summer so there is no air conditioning and no possibility for using a fan!

The power we have been missing most lately is the off-and-on internet connection our computers have had. In the next few weeks, our internet company is going to bring in a dedicated line to the computers.

3) Are you prepared for the next one?
We are semi-prepared, as always. When it looks like a hurricane is heading our way, we load up on water and canned goods. The garage holds the numbered plywood boards to put over the windows when absolutely necessary, which has not happened this year. . . . yet.

4) What's the weather forecast where you are this weekend?
Intermittent thunderstorms with high temperatures!

5) How do you calm your personal storms?
Talking with friends and praying.

Rain from Alex and Baking a Cake!

Hurricane Alex hit landfall in Mexico. We are getting bands of rain showers off and on. I just took a picture of the backyard to show you how another tree branch fell down in one of the storms. You may recall from the other storm that the far branch leaned over the wires. I was grateful that CB cut off the rest of the overhang just as the rains started yesterday.

You can see where he cut the branches by looking in the middle of the tree and also by comparing the tree to the pictures I posted one month ago. The remnants of the tomato plants have fallen over the bench. You can also see CB's handy work in replacing rotting boards on the deck.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I spent the morning baking a carrot cake for my friend LT. She and I have been friends since we attended La Leche League meetings together before (and after) our first children were born, which is 31 years now! Later we both became La Leche League Leaders. I was so shocked when we first knew each other that her husband did not give her a birthday cake for her birthday that I started baking her a carrot cake each year.

With her sister and her three children visiting from Lubbock, LT said this would be a good time to get such a big cake. I'll be taking it over to her house soon, between rain showers.

Hurricane Info

Hurricane Alex is a category 1 storm, which is the "weakest" hurricane, but it can still cause lots of damage with its winds, rain and flooding, and possible tornadoes. Here in Corpus Christi, TX we are relieved that it is hitting landfall south of us. We'll get some rain and wind.

When I lived and grew up in the north, I just assumed that hurricanes were big storms that caused lots of damage and was glad they didn't really affect me. So I thought I would put some info about hurricanes to inform you (and ME)!


To see an animation of hurricane damage according to the categories of storms, go here.

From The Palm Beach Post.

Here will tell you about Herbert Saffir, the creator of the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale.

Friday Five: TX Summers

Songbird brings this Friday Five to RevGalBlogPals. This is what Songbird suggests for today's Friday Five:
"But I don't want that to ruin summer for the rest of you. So I invite you to share five things you love--or don't--about summer. The tone is up to you!"

1. HEAT and HUMIDITY! Living in south TX, our summers seem present for half the year, so I am biased. In fact, I have a blog label entitled Texas Heat that has rants and cartoons about how hot it is here.

The lethal thing about living on the coast in warm/hot weather is the humidity. In the winter the humidity helps keep our skins hydrated. Now they really are wet! In fact, my friend KK has a cute story about her young nephew who arrived in town yesterday from WA State--he'd been running around the airport on arrival and suddenly stopped and said: "It's hot. I'm all wet!" He looked at his dripping self in surprise, never having gotten so sweaty up north (which I know is possible, but is not usually a daily event).

I remember in high school and college in Bellingham, WA that we would go out sunbathing and in shorts when it hit the upper 60's. Now that seems "wintery" here.

2. NO SCHOOL! The relaxed atmosphere of having no school has been with me since I was an elementary school teacher and then having four children of my own. With only one (MJ) still in school (college), I like having her come home more often.

Without school in session, I can see teacher friends more frequently. Also, there is less traffic in the early mornings on our streets.

3. VACATIONS! Ever since we got married, we usually have vacations back home in WA State. It was always wonderful for our children to explore parks and do all sorts of outdoor activities up there, as well as getting to know their grandparents. Since both my parents are dead, I am grateful my kids had the opportunity to visit every summer.

AND this summer, CB and I are going to ALASKA! This is a big vacation for us; formerly most of our vacations were to visit relatives. We will have the third week in WA to see our daughters AE and KA, plus a few days in Bellingham to see CB's parents and other relatives.

4. FRUIT! There is more fruit, especially berries. They are more plentiful in stores, as are also grapes, peaches and nectarines. Such abundance is helping me to eat more nutritiously. In WA, the strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries are brimming with flavor, as they are growing there. My parents grew them in their backyard, so the kids loved to pick them themselves. I have been surprised this year that the raspberries and blackberries available for purchase here have had more flavor than in years past.

5. HURRICANES! This is a scary prospect every summer--June 1 to Nov. 1. That's the period when the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean have temperatures that are warm enough to spawn and nurture the growth of big tropical storms. Corpus Christi has not had a big hit since Celia in 1970. We did not live here then; we have heard graphic stories of the damage and difficulties from that storm. Friends who were teenagers then tell us what it was like to have two weeks with no electricity; I would not like to be here for that! And today's water temperature in Corpus Christi is 87 degrees F. Not good.

Storm Damage 2

You may (or may not) recall that CB decided not to cut the fallen branches that were weighing down the power and cable lines from our house.

I kept worrying that the branch would break, bearing all that abrupt weight upon the power line and break it. The thought of having no air conditioning was horrifying with the extreme humidity and heat here.

On Saturday afternoon, CB decided to tackle it. He slowly cut through the morass of branches one at a time.
On the ground, we could see the extent of the branches connected to the broken limb. Strong and persistent CB carried all the branches outside this morning before church. That was fortuitous, because the city waste crew went down our street in the past hour picking up the huge piles of brush.

Storm Damage

There was a severe thunderstorm here last night around midnight, with high winds 75-80 mph (which are hurricane force winds). The dogs were very frightened and our power went off briefly.

This morning we discovered that a large portion of a tree next door fell onto our fence. When CB and the dogs went outside this morning, Cisco and Maisie soon found the hole in the fence and were off! When I woke up, I found Chuck trying to clear off the driveway and cart the debris away. Later, he and our neighbor put up four new boards to patch the hole in the fence.


Throughout the day we lost our internet connection, but we have been fortunate to keep our electrical power, especially for the air conditioner to continue pumping cooler air into our house. Sadly, portions of our area are still without power, including Trudy's mother's house down the block from us.

In our backyard there is still a large limb leaning down over the powerline leading from our house to the pole. CB says the line has too much voltage for him to attempt to cut the branches. Eventually, the power company will take care of it. I hope it doesn't fall before that is possible.

10 Reasons Why Hurricane Season Is Like Christmas

Number Ten:
Decorating the house (with plywood).

Number Nine:
Dragging out boxes that haven't been used since last season.

Number Eight:
Last minute shopping in crowded stores.

Number Seven:
Regular TV shows pre-empted for 'Specials'.

Number Six:
Family coming to stay with you.

Number Five:
Family and friends from out of state calling you.

Number Four:
Buying food you don't normally buy . . . and in large quantities.

Number Three:
Days off from work.

Number Two:
Candles

And the Number One
Reason Hurricane Season is like Christmas:

At some point you’re probably going to have a tree in your house!

~~~~~~~~~~

Son BJ, who is in Austin, says that his Houston house-mate told him that there is a tree on the roof of their rented house, a tree blocking their driveway, and part of the backyard fence is down. Their house is in northeast Houston.

Phone Calls

(Alexander Graham Bell makes the first phone call in 1876.)

Among friends here in Corpus Christi, I am known as someone who rarely makes phone calls. I like people to call, but somehow don't like to initiate the conversation. However, I am always glad when people call me, especially my children.

Today two unexpected phone calls were answered: from two of my cousins wondering how we are with the aftereffects of Hurricane Ike. My cousin Margaret in Calgary, Alberta, Canada called this morning. She was worried that the barrier island I took her to when she visited five years ago was Galveston Island--so glad it was much further west around the Gulf! (I am going to go and visit her on the last day of the month!)

The other call was from my cousin Jim, who lives in Blaine, WA. Of all my first cousins, with whom I've lost touch, he is the closest in age to me. The others are decades older. I am so touched that he would think of us down here. I have not seen him since my dad's memorial service in 2002.

This makes me realize at a deeper level that I need to make greater efforts to visit MY relatives when we go to WA State. We usually visit my husband's parents and his siblings there. Since my mother's death in 1992, I have seldom tried to see the four cousins who live up there. Neither have they maintained contact. Even though I always send our annual Christmas letter to them, only two of them ever respond.

I need to take a lesson from the faithfulness shown by cousin Margaret, who is my mother's first cousin. Since 1992, Margaret has consistently written multiple paged letters by hand to me every month. (She does not use the internet.) For Christmas she always writes each person a long letter, enclosed in the book she gives each one. Her letters previously intimidated me, and so I did not reply. Still, Margaret kept writing. I now write letters back to her and enjoy doing that, since I've released my guilt for not answering in kind (and quantity).

Both Margaret and Jim, as well as some friends who called me right after the knee arthroscopy, are showing me how much a phone call can mean to people. Practice makes perfect, so I had better start!

Ike Hits Land

Accuweather.com

We in Corpus Christi, TX feel most fortunate that Ike is not affecting us. Please pray for the people in east Texas and in Louisiana and Mississippi, and especially in Galveston and Houston.

Ike is moving northeast!

"Hurricane Ike will continue to intensify before making landfall along the Gulf Coast in Texas late Friday. The storm has potential to cause widespread destruction, including in Houston and surrounding Harris County."
AccuWeather.com

Well, we're looking like we're going to be okay here in Corpus Christi, but those in the Houston and Galveston areas need our prayers! (Like Jody at Quotidian Grace) CB will not board up our windows after all. We continue to watch the weather sites to see what irrational Ike will do!

I worry about 23 year old son BJ and his dog Troy who live in northwest Houston. I am relieved that he's now talking about going to Austin.

MJ is happy that she can come home this weekend from San Antonio. This is the LAST weekend that she and her boy friend CS can be together. He leaves for Stanford University on Tuesday. It had been looking like she would have to stay in San Antonio in "safety" until now.

It's not time to relax for anyone on the Texas Gulf Coast yet. Watching, waiting, and praying.

Ike on Wednesday

" Hurricane Ike has emerged off the western coast of Cuba and will re-strengthen into a major hurricane as it tracks through the Gulf of Mexico. Landfall is expected early Saturday morning near Corpus Christi, Texas. "
~~AccuWeather.com
And for information about preparing for a hurricane, go here.

Well, many houses have windows boarded up, but not even 50% yet. CB plans to do that tomorrow, depending on where Ike is projected to hit. If Ike is 100 miles north of Corpus Christi, then he says we won't have to worry much. We'll decide on Thursday night whether we'll leave or not.

I took our furry cat Gracie to the vet today for a check-up so that I could get tranquilizers in case we leave. She is an indoor cat. She will be traumatized to be not only OUT of the house, but in a vehicle with two dogs! But how you get a pill down a cat, I don't know.

There's a slight feeling of panic in various places. I remember that from preparation for other storms when going to the supermarket HEB--with small children, I started grabbing various foods that I never used, fearing the possibility of no power. With so many people piling their carts full of "necessities," I felt compelled to do the same.

The fear is almost palpable in some places.I went to First United Methodist Church for our weekly lectio divina group, and staff members were preparing offices for the storm. Metal shutters were already over the church's windows. The five staff workers I spoke with were leaving town today.

Only one other person came to lectio today. She and her husband plan to stay, especially as they have a small generator in case power goes off. They (and we) are feeling somewhat confident, because our houses are over 50 years old and have already been strong enough to withstand other hurricanes (specifically Celia in 1970). However, CB and I do not have a generator.

The scripture selection for today's lectio was hurriedly chosen before I took the cat to the vet. It turned out to be comforting and helpful today:

Romans 14:6-8

14:6 Those who observe the day, observe it in honor of the Lord. Also those who eat, eat in honor of the Lord, since they give thanks to God; while those who abstain, abstain in honor of the Lord and give thanks to God.

14:7 We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves.

14:8 If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's.

Which way? Ike?

Artwork: "Indecision" by a Filipino surrealist painter Jon Jaylo.

Artist's Site: http://back2basic.multiply.com/

Back and forth. . . .projections for Ike are going north, which we would like, but those in Galveston and Houston would not. . . Now the range of possibility is between Corpus Christi and Galveston. No one knows for sure until the time gets closer to landfall. Tomorrow CB says they'll board up the windows on the Habitat for Humanity house they're building. For our house, we'll see on Thursday if it looks necessary.

Hurricane Ike

Weather Underground

The projected path of Hurricane Ike looks like Corpus Christi at this time. "8 AM Saturday" is about where Corpus Christi is on the map. We'll leave with our two dogs and cat if this is the case, but there is lots to do to prepare, though we haven't started yet. We still have stored up water from the last scare (Dolly).

Aftereffects of Dolly

Dolly is a tropical storm in Mexico now and is waning down. Last night the power went off again at about 9 o'clock. It was hot and muggy as rain pounded and thunder sounded. The front right quadrant of the hurricane came over us and dumped lots of water. Sometime during the night electricity was restored, though almost 100,000 people in south TX lost power. Further south crews are still working on restoring electricity to homes and businesses. We had 7 inches of rain yesterday!

No ill effects in our area, EXCEPT for the forthcoming crop of mosquitoes! The bugs with the extremely high humidity will make outside ventures unbearable. (With the sun shining right now, the humidity is 82%.) I may not even hang laundry out on the clothesline!

Lots of rain!

Dolly

---

from NOAA at 3 pm in Texas

Lots of rain, some minor street flooding, but we're lucky in Corpus Christi. Storm bands are still circling around without too much wind (30-40 mph gusts). We've been in the "orange" area most of the time today. The only problem was an hour with no electricity around noon.

All the rain makes us very glad that the high school campers got back last night. MJ slept late and is now napping again. It's always nice to nap or read in bed when it's raining, which hasn't happened much here lately.

I am getting my last sources noted for my Shalem paper on listening and spiritual direction today, so writing should start in the next day or so (finally).

Tuesday at our house

• MJ and all the high school campers are on a bus coming back to Corpus Christi from Leakey where CAC was held. Due to Hurricane Dolly, they are coming home a day early. So they had the traditional Prayer Trail last night where the signs of all the seniors were somehow arranged. They'll be back around 7 o'clock tonight. I'm glad.
  

• Do you remember that I had an MRI on my knee about a week ago? Today the doctor called me up and said he wants to do arthroscopy on it. He recommended doing it earlier than later so no more damage is done. However, we're going to Bellingham, WA on Aug. 7 and when we get back I want to help MJ move into her dorm. So it looks like this will be done in September.

• The Wisdom Class was not argumentative today, because only five people were there, including me. Only one man came. We had a lovely discussion and sharing about chapter 8 in Richard Rohr's Things Hidden: Scripture as Spirituality. That chapter is entitled "The Rejected Banquet," and how we refuse to accept the love of God lavished upon us.

• The uncertainty of Hurricane Dolly continues. That's why so few came to the Wisdom Class today. It looks like it will land south of here, near Brownsville. We'll get some wind and rain, and our area sorely needs rain. Bands of rain clouds will start appearing in the morning (Wednesday).
  

Hoping not!

We're watching Tropical Storm Dolly. . . . Crown Weather Service.