Picking up the pieces

We just got home from our son's house for dinner and visiting with our daughter and fiance. It was a mixed grill dinner of the meat they grabbed from the freezer before they fled Hurricane Ike on Thursday morning. They were pretty sure the electricity would go out and the food would spoil. So, we enjoyed their steak, chicken, and pork that had been frozen in the giant ice chest until tonight. And our grandson made brownies for dessert. It was all delicious and we even put some ice cream, and some of the spray whipped cream stuf, and a cherry on top.

It seems they, my daughter and bf from the Kemah Galveston area will have a home when they get back and it seems like her office is ok. It is in Kemah and it probably didn't get water in it, because the storm surge was less than expected and topped out at about 15 feet at the house on Galveston Bay. The friend who drove over to check the office out couldn't get to it, but said it looked intact. Her next door neighbor called to tell her the only thing she could tell about the house is that there is a tree that has fallen over the fence. Hopefully it will be ok. It took nearly two years to get it built. There is a curfew from yesterday until Monday sometime in the area where they live. The damage in the Houston, Alvin, Galveston area, and the whole area is incredible. Even Brennan's in Houston burned down last night during the storm. Yesterday I'd watched the storm coverage so much that when a reporter said there were cars parked in the cruise ship parking lots I wondered what sort of surreal cruise that would have been with a hurricane the size of the Gulf of Mexico in the Gulf for a week and no car or severely damaged car when you got back to the dock. I cannot even imagine what on earth that would even be like. The ships come back in on Sunday morning. My guess is they won't be leaving again Sunday evening, but I could be wrong. There was someone trying to check into a hotel in Houston and was outraged when he couldn't because of flooding. His outrage stemmed from the fact that it hadn't even rained there yet...how could it be flooding!? The hurricane was still in Galveston then and it was hours before the eyewall came across. The storm surge was causing water to back up into that area. Last we saw he was trying to get his truck out of the flooded parking lot.

I hadn't realized how many people we have gotten to know down there in the years since she first moved to Houston about 25 years ago. Some of her friends were not so lucky and have lost a lot. All are alive and that is what counts. However, one was sort of hoping her boat might not make it. She has been living on it for a few years now and broke her leg a while back on the thing. I think she doesn't love it as much as she used to when she bought it in Florida and sailed it back to the Houston yacht club. They have some really fine friends down in that area. It is a good friend who will drive to several cities to let you know your, the bf's, parent's home is ok, your office is ok and that he couldn't get into the area where they live to check on the house. That is a real good friend. He is living without water, electricity and basic services while home to board up his house, but he is going down the street tonight to his neighbor's house who has a generator so he can charge his cell phone. I hope he takes some of the 10 pounds of steak he is going to have to throw away and share it with the generator guy. He is working in Baltimore right now and will be flying back on Monday. He is leaving the boards up on his house until hurricane season is over in November. He may be a son in law one day, too. My youngest daughter is pretty much in love with him. He is a really good friends with my older daughter and her bf, Robert.

I haven't heard anything from my friend, PJ who lives on Galveston island, in a couple of days. Her mom has a dialup connection and it is very slow, so it limits her time online. My prayers are with them that their home is still there. She is a realtor so works from home, but there is a corporate office where she checks in and they send her paycheck. Hope it is ok. Hope her husband's job is ok, too.

There was a statement from the cities that it would be probably a month until the electricity is back on down there. There is a widespread outage of power, water, and we think maybe gas. The kids are going to pick up a generator here if they can find one at Sam's or Costco or one of the home repair stores tomorrow. He has an RV they can actually live in until basic services are restored, if their neighbor from hell doesn't kick up too much of a stink about it all. I'd not like to live without electricity, meaning a/c, in Galveston for any length of time at all, ever. It can get pretty cool down there, but not in September or October and even Thanksgiving is iffy about the cool part. It has been cool when I've been down there, but it must have been in winter or something.

I don't know how she will operate her business though without water and/or electricity. I know this, she will make it work somehow. She always has made the absolute best out of every situation. My hat is off to you, kid.