Whew!!!

Well...I made it through yet another Hurricane! The little metal box I live in stood up pretty good although I did think I was going to go flying through the air like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz a couple of times. I did manage to locate many, many leaks in the trailer.

My old "Home" on the West Bank in Gretna, LA did not fare quite as well. Damage that had just begun to be repaired was ripped away by Rita and to a few of the units more damage was done. My old apartment had not even had any repairs begun so the already extensive damage was made worse by this storm.

One of my co-workers at the hotel I work at here in Baton Rouge told us on Friday that this storm had a talk with hurricane Katrina...she told Katrina "Hold my earrings, bitch, I'm gonna show you how it's done!!", well, thank the powers that be that the damage was not as bad as it could have been. A direct hit on Houston and the oil rig rich waters off the coast of Texas would have devastated us even more! I suppose we can look forward to $5 gallons of gasoline in our futures. But...if I tried to tell one of the residents of any of the hardest hit parishes in Louisiana that it wasn't so bad they would shoot or skin me! In Erath, a little bitty town in LA where my first marriage was performed by a JP, the water from the Vermillion River made it to the South part of town, about 18 miles from where the river usually is. Then if you go to places like Cameron, Calcasieu, Iberia...damage there was bad. These parts of the state are home to much of our sugar cane and rice crops. We will probably see a rise in those prices as well. Of course, Florida also produces a good portion of sugar cane grown in the USA.

Then you look to the counties in Texas that were hit. The towns that will never be the same again. Port Arthur, TX houses some of our major oil refineries...Orange, TX is home to several historic sites that we may never see the same way again. Then there is Galveston. What can you say about Galveston. The beaches were not what I was used to having lived in Florida for so long and enjoying the sugar white beaches that are there but...it was a major historic place. When I interviewed for a job there last year I read some of the history about it. Prior to the hurricane that hit in the early 1900's and wiped out most of it, it was a prosperous area that was fighting to be the "Hub" of the south. Many of the areas that were not wiped out by that un-named storm were hugely impacted by this one.

My daughter had little damage to her home. I was very glad to hear of that since it was just over a year ago that her home in Florida was totally wiped out by Hurricane Ivan. The guy I have been seeing...his home is in extreme East Texas...many trees...no power...I initially thought it was in the path of the potential flooding that the damage to the dam at Lake Livingston was going to do because of damage...but no...it lies above the dam...WHEW!

I am "Storm Weary". I pray that no more storms come anywhere NEAR us again! I can't wait until the end of the season this year. The things that never, ever bothered me before now cause me to weep openly. I find that when the power flickers I worry...a flashlight now lives by my bed, my couch, in my bathroom...even in my car! The paranoia about the weather has me obsessively checking the NOAA web site for any potential developing storms...Maybe the cold of Illinois was not so bad....oh, who am I kidding. I'd rather endure a bad, horrible, powerful hurricane season than endure even one day of 30 below weather and ice and snow and slush!

As for the commenter that asked about Kim and the family...all are wonderful! The babies are the absolute most adorable things on the Earth! They have the personalities of their respective parent...Sean is soooo much like his dad...even down to the little scowl he gets when he's paying very close attention to you...Maia is a bit more laid back...like her mom...she watches but she is also pretty easy going. Kim says that she is much like me in her sleep habits...I can sleep ANYWHERE and not a thing will wake me or bother me if I don't want it to! She also keeps to her own schedule...always messing with mom's idea as to when to eat, sleep, play...just to be stubborn! (Kim's contribution to her!) The family is so busy just trying to adjust to the addition of the two little ones and the things that they had going on before the birth of the little angels that there is little time for the two of them! Of course, being the good parents, they also know that it's important to FIND time for each other.

So...while I know you miss Kim and her skill and wit and all that jazz...be content with the fact that she has these precious little babies that she needs to focus on. She WILL be back! When she returns, for good, I know that she will have MUCH to say! Even as we all sit here, reading, mulling, living our lives, she is coming up with stories that she has to share...things that she has to "Throw Out There" because that's what she does! Hang in there! She'll be Back!!!