Ike and all his fury has been here and gone. I was fortunate--limbs down in the yard, pool a mess but no real damage. One of my best friends had a tree fall through the house and everything is a mess. Of course, I had the home listed for sale so there is one less listing on the market. But you know, that is not what is important. Her kitchen was wet everywhere, the beautiful wood floors buckled, sheet rock has to be cut out; the list goes on and on. One huge blessing we had was a break from normal temperatures. Usually we hit 90-95 and we are only at 77 degrees right now. You don't miss the AC so much at 77.
Ike first blew into The Woodlands about 2 AM on Saturday. The sounds were unbelievable: roaring, constant wind with occasional branches slamming against the house and roof. Heavy, heavy rain but no thunder or lightning that I recall. About 4:30 we finally slept thinking maybe we would not lose power after all. About 6:15 AM all was quiet, at least the "hum" of electricity was gone. Dark. Do you know how many times you reach for a switch to turn on the lights? Many, too many to count.
Monday morning when I got up, it was a beautiful day. I looked outside and saw 2 newspapers in the drive. I figured out how to make coffee without my fancy coffee maker. Birds were on the bird feeder. I thought some normalcy had returned.
And today, Tuesday, we got power. I am not sure how many residents in The Woodlands have power, but my neighborhood has power. Back to AC, phone, TV, cable, MLS, computers, AR, refrigerators! You cannot imagine how much food was thrown away. So sad. Some things just don't do well in a cooler.
What good came out of Ike? Neighbors helping neighbors. Our neighborhood got together for meals: barbecue, steaks, ribs, soups, salads. Today we even grilled bacon and had pancakes and mimosas. The kids never complained about no tv, no video games. They were too busy running, hiding, laughing. Life was good. FEMA and other entities were fabulous! Ice, water, meals were all available. Gas wasn't too hard to come by as long as you agreed to wait in line. The Montgomery County Sheriff's department and the constables were saints. One deputy, Bryce, kept everyone laughing in the long gas line and he kept the jerks from cutting in line.
So, power is back to the people. Many have lost much and I ask you to pray for them. If there is a way to physically help, do so. But for me, I have gained. I know my neighbors better, I realized the priority of home and family over "stuff". God bless you all. I hope you never have to live through a hurricane even if you come out good in the end.
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