I moved to South Texas only four and one-half months ago knowing that I was moving into an area that can experience hurricanes. However, no large hurricane has come this way in many years and, besides, I felt like I had developed an immunity to them. We lived in the Corpus Christi area for two years....no hurricane. We also lived in New Orleans for two years....no hurricane. Who would have thought that we could live here less than six months and experience Hurricane Ike???
I must admit that before the winds got bad on Friday afternoon that I was kind of looking forward to having the "experience". Didn't want any damage, and felt for those who might actually be in harms way, but just to be able to experience something as powerful as a hurricane. And it all began just as I had hoped. We moved all outside furniture, plants and lawn ornaments inside, got the windows ready (well kind of...no board, just tape), bought comfort food and water (yes,threw away any guilt about dieting), picked up batteries for the flashlights and portable radio and filled two bathtubs with water. Oh yes, washed my hair for the second time that afternoon in case the electricity went out and I couldn't wash it on Saturday. Prepared???? Mr. Forbes from the Weather Channel couldn't have been better prepared than us.
Next came the waiting game. We watched the TV and almost lost hope of it actually beginning. Then, the winds picked up and it started sprinkling. This is it!!! I did get some really great pictures of the clouds.
And then it got too windy to be outside. I was ready for it, but not nearly as brave as I had been before it got dark. All of our friends and family called to wish us well...or maybe goodbye and let us know that we were idiots to ride this thing out, in a kind way, though.=) I went outside and took one last cloud picture and then came inside to "hunker down" and eat dark chocolate peanut M&M's.
It didn't seem to be getting bad very fast, so about 10:45, we crawled into bed thinking that with a sound machine to drown out the noise, we would wake up Saturday morning, and it would all be over. Not so. At about 1:30 a.m. it really hit!! Windows sounded like they were bending, outside vents were popping, and debris was blowing around outside. Our tree was uprooted as were many in the neighborhood, plus all of the street signs and stop signs were either blown down, or totally bent at the ground. High line wires just outside of the neighborhood were blown down and we could watch bright flashes as one transformer after another was blown down. OK, so much for the experience. By 2:00 a.m. I was ready for it to end. I really thought we were going to lose a window or two. Rain water came in the front door. It wasn't flood water, but actually rain water being blown in. The electricity flickered off and on for several hours. I thought it was about as bad as it could get, and then at 4:00 a.m. the eye came through. Folks, I'm not kidding. That was some strong wind!! Finally, at around 6:00 a.m. things began to let up. It continued raining and the wind kept blowing, but we could tell that conditions were improving!! Yes, we were Hurricane Ike survivors. At that point, we crawled into bed, said a little prayer of thanksgiving, and went to sleep for an hour and a half (thanks Chandra for calling to check up on us!-) Actually, it is good to know that we are loved and everyone was concerned for our safety.
Thanks for all of your prayers and calls. If you have tried to call, my cell phone still won't work because the server is overloaded. I will try to talk to all of you as soon as possible. And, I won't be looking forward to a hurricane ever again...especially not one stronger than Ike, which was only a category 2!!??
6. I'm thankful for my computer so that I can receive pictures of H whom I haven't been able to see since Christmas because they live so far away. (It was even better when their computer was working and I could visit with him on the webcam.)
For our anniversary, Rocky took me on a weekend trip to
