From a friend in East Texas.....
Lessons Learned During and After the Storm:
No matter how many times you flick the switch, lights don't work without electricity. Lucy: This is a fact, I tried to turn the lights on so many times out of habit. Our power came back on Tuesday night at 7:30pm. and now the light switch works again….
Vienna sausages only appear on the food pyramid during hurricane season. Lucy: So true….
Gas mileage is recalculated based on miles per fume. Lucy: Gas was a “hot” commodity after the storm. I am grateful that I filled up the car before the storm. I drove very little the first five days and still had a half a tank of gas when I finally filled up.
Lovebugs do not disappear in 80mph wind gusts. Lucy: This I did not check for during the heat of the storm…
Disasters can cancel Texans football game. Lucy: Games, like school, were cancelled. Many of our kids are back in school, but Bonnie is still out because of extensive damage at her college. I hope they begin soon so she doesn’t get too far behind.
Despite protests, kids can re-live their parents¹ youth when there were only 3 tv channels! Lucy: She is talking about the portable TV’s and I was lucky to get two during the storm. I was up at 4:00am. the night of the storm, watching where it was and what it was doing. I am grateful for that.
Cats are even more irritating without power. Lucy: Our cat hid during most of the storm.
Houston without traffic lights resembles Mexico City , Rome , Los Angeles and New York City all rolled into a single snarl. Lucy: Some people just don’t know how to use a 4 way stop…..It is a wonder no one was killed.
There are/were a lot of really big trees around here! Lucy: I know that our neighborhood has a lot less trees…..Sure looks different around here.
Just because you're 18 doesn't mean you can stay out as late as you want. Mayor White meant business when he said curfew. Lucy: They were arresting people who did not follow the curfew. Mayor White really did mean it. I did not venture out because it was really dark at night and it was spooky.
People will get into a line that has already formed without having any idea what the line is for. Lucy: There were a lot of lines for ice and drinking water. I thank God for the Champions Forest Baptist church who were the friendliest people I have meet in a long time.
Calories consumed during a hurricane or power outage do not count. Lucy: I sure hope this is true. I ate some really weird food during the power outage.
Telemarketers function no matter what the weather is doing. New Delhi does not check the weather report in Houston . Lucy: Most of the phones were down, so I didn’t get any of these calls…..
Most popular text message after September 11: do u hve pwr Lucy: A friend of mine, in the neighborhood, just came by and asked if we had power. He still does not have power….I hope he gets it soon.
Twenty-seven of your neighbors are fed from a different transformer than you,
and they are quick to point that out! Lucy: We only have four houses on our transformer….I am glad our power situation wasn’t transformer related because they have been put on the back burner till all of the switches are up.
Crickets and cicadas can increase their volume to overcome the sound of 14 generators. Lucy: We had a generator about every two or three houses. The sound of the generator was very annoying at night when the windows were open and we were trying to sleep. I’m grateful that we had one though….
Dirty clothes in an unsupervised hamper multiply at an exponential rate. Lucy: I washed up all of the clothes before the storm and we went two days on a set of clothes after the storm. I did wash “whites” mid way thru and hung them on a make shift clothes line. Now that we have power, I can use my washer and dryer…..YEA!!!
Coffee, spaghetti and frozen pizzas can be made on a grill. Lucy: We used our single burner butane stove to cook on, but I did not try spaghetti and frozen Pizza….Ha Ha.
He who has the biggest generator wins. Lucy: He who has any generator wins…
Tree service companies are under-appreciated, except after hurricanes. Lucy: Most of them are great, but he had some who charged outrageous prices for their work. I hope the Attorney General is paying attention…
Water will fill the I-10 & SW Freeway. Lucy: Water will flood any freeway. The Gulf Freeway has some extensive damage because of this hurricane.
There are a lot more stars in the sky than most people thought. Lucy: It is wonderful to look up at night and see stars. With all of the power down and no back lighting the skies were awash with stars……They are heavenly gifts from God. I especially enjoyed the full moon that we had while the power was out, it lit the way in the darkest of night.
If you owned a store that sold only ice, chain saws, gas and generators, you would be rich. Lucy: This is absolutely true.
With only a small amount of guilt Houstonians can collectively pray a second hurricane to landfall in another state or country. Lucy: I know that when Gustav was coming our way I “wished” it would go elsewhere, but I know deep down that wherever it went, someone was going to get a real mess. I really don’t pray that on anyone.
And so to our friends and families, some who are still without power and others who have endured great personal loss, you are in our prayers. Hang in there, we are making progress. Thank you to all our first responders, healthcare professionals, service technicians, teachers, police officers, small business owners, and more who join with the thousands of individuals sharing their time and talent to help restore our community to wholeness.
The most important lesson of all learned from Ike in the last week is that the human spirit has an amazing resilience that even a hurricane cannot bend. Through God’s love and amazing grace we can endure all things.
Have a great week everyone.
posted by Lucy Stern @ 11:15 AM
17 comments
17 Comments:
you know you just live through what you have been saying to do all along, and that our church teaches us all along, but people up here don.t really believe it will wever happen to them but it did happen to you
This is funny and so true. And the next time around you can help those who don't know these things by pulling on your vast wisdom like, "You can flush a toilet without electricity by filling up the tank with water". A lot of people may not know this. LOL
That last paragraph sums it all up for me. If you get out with all family members intact, you can find the energy, resources and help to stage a come back. Nothing straightens a person's priorities out faster than an approaching Hurricane.
I loved your commentary after each point.
My favorite is the one about the calories not counting.
If that's true, I need to track the path of hurricanes and go to them.
:-)
After Rita, the squirrels were gone as there were fewer trees. The following summer it was soo bright because the trees were missing and leaves were gone! That is what stuck out to me.. the brightness.. the sun.
I am glad yall are getting back to normal :)
Glad you finally have power again, Lucy, though I know that there are thousands still without power.
God bless you and all those who continue to pick up the pieces.
Love and hugs,
Diane
This was a truly fascinating reflection of ALL the circumstances surrounding the aftermath of that disasterous Hurricane. Thank you so much for this---there were so many things that one doesn't think about or consider till you are right in the thibk of it all! So happy to read you have your Power back now, my dear....
As to your question: I don't believe there is a hive---that is to say, I have no evidence of that, at all. Years and Years ago----maybe 20 or more, I did have a Hive in the roof area of my Deck...outside, luckilly, but there were so many bees, it was unmistakeable that there had to be a hive. The amount of Bees that come now, is just the Normal amount---ALL Attracted to delicious blooming flowers! They do make me happy because I know that there is a terrible Bee problem in this country....So, I'm very glad they are here.
That must be something to live through. I was just remembering recently how my grandmother used to stand in lines when she was young without knowing what the line was for. But that was during the Depression.
Glad things are improving.
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Hi Lucy, you can flush your toilet by dumping half bucket of water right into the bowl, no need to take the tank top off.
That's they way everybody flushes (who does flush) in the Middle East. They have toilets but no running water to them. In the rest rooms the attendant will pour the water into the bowl for you.
Ditto on most of your items, but:
♥ we have a gas stove top with burners;
♥ those generators are noisy at night;
♥ I washed all my clothes the day of the storm, before it came in;
♥ our whole subdivision came on at the same time;
♥ we are on the 'do not call lists', Texas and National ones;
♥ I only ganed three pounds over the week;
♥ yes, Lucy, us Baptists are almost as friendly as the LDS people;
♥ I'm sure glad you didn't get arrested for curfew violation, it is going off tonight (unless they extend it again) so you can stay out late tomorrow;
♥ we had our lot bulldozed cleaned before we built, our trees are all nine years old and very flexible, none broke;
♥ don't forget bad traffic Cairo, Guatemala City, and other large cities out of control (even in Juarez. Mexico, fifty years ago);
♥ we never have cable or dish TV, we do get Brian-College Station Channel 3 to get the soaps during 'recovery';
♥ I filled all three cars up before the storm, the Mustang only has a thirteen gallon tank;
♥ I eat Vienna sausages regularly on no fat crackers with my meds; and
♥ we were gone when the power came back on, I had only left one light 'on' and had the AC's turned off.
Your remarks make your East Texas friend's observations more like Houston. Thank you for sharing both.
..
Having a generator would be a wonderful thing during those, so you could have some power.
Seeing the stars must have been a glorious thing with all the electricity off! That is something I seldom see anymore with all the lights around.
Two more from the list of my sister in Houston area (Alvin)
I learned what happens when you make fun of another states' blackout.
MATH 101: 30 days in month, minus 11 days without power equals 30% higher electric bill ?????
Glad you are safe.
Susan
And the HOV lanes on Gulf Freeway are still not working as of Friday...2hrs from Clear Lake to downtown.
Lucy, I think you were much more prepared than so many people. Most people are so reliant on the things that are lost in times of disaster.
We evacuated to Waco. It was mandatory for Brazoria County.
But upon returning it was a real mess, and hardly anything was open.
We still have four-way stops at a few intersections around town.
Surfside got hit the worst though. It actually took a harder beating than Galveston. Every house along the coast, except 3, are now out in the Gulf. But you don't hear about it on the news because that island is home to less than 2500 people.
What happened to my comment? Darn.
I think I said something to the effect of watching houses on a block become a neighborhood after the hurricane. We really pulled together and helped each other.
I forget what else I said. I'm glad your power is back.
"The most important lesson of all learned from Ike in the last week is that the human spirit has an amazing resilience that even a hurricane cannot bend. Through God’s love and amazing grace we can endure all things."
Beautifully said.
I'm glad you are doing well. You and your fellow Texans are still in my prayers.
Thanks for passing these along. Good stuff for sure Lucy. I'm glad you're up and runnin.
You didn't just live it, you LIVED IT! No one has described it better.
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