Gotta Luv Willie!

Texas' own Willie Nelson, founder of Farm Aid, says they will be giving to groups that help family farmers in areas of Louisiana and Texas hardest hit by Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. Included are Lutheran Social Services of the South, Southern Mutual Help Association, Louisiana Interchurch Conference and  Federation of Southern Cooperatives. Farm Aid is the nation's longet-running benefit concert and has raised more than $30 million since its first show in 1985.

Worried About Martha in Texas

I have already printed my best e-mail message today and am enlarging it and putting up to make me feel good today. 

It is from my five-year-old friend – coming up to six, mind you – William. 

Few of us can say we have such a beautiful friend as his Grandma! But today, let me focus on William, sometimes called “Wil”. He lives just east of Toronto, off the 401 Highway where I lived before moving to East Texas. 

Wil wants to be a meteorologist when he grows up. When Grandma picks him up in the morning to shuttle him to school, he gives her the daily forecast. He is already interested and learning about cloud formation. 

I taped our local weatherman two weeks ago (Hurricane Gustav) so Wil could see just how excited and precise these people get when we are on alert for a Hurricane. Now, I haven’t sent that tape, because I can add to it for him tonight (Hurricane Ike). 

We have made friends with one of our meteorologists. This is a “small market” in East Texas and he started here right out of college. The weather here is fairly extreme, making it a good training ground. He is in a major market now and we do hear from him sometimes. He has been promoted to the morning slot now. This fellow has always seen the glass half-full and feels reaching the station at 3:00 a.m. is a small price to pay for the most-viewed slot. And of course, he gets weekends off! 

Back to our youngest meteorologist, William! Presumably because of his family using the term, “Martha in Texas”, he got to calling me that. Even on the telephone, he will say, 

“Hello, Martha in Texas!” 

Well Wil’s family wanted us to know that he is worrying about us. He and his family are all praying for us and our friends here, especially that the storm will not be as strong as predicted. 

Now, Wil has the link to the website to watch our local weatherman on his computer, and I think that may be more exciting than a two-week-old tape! 

I hope you have friends like William and his Grandmother because that is just about all you need to keep you going! 

Well and Safe . . . Awaiting More Rain & Wind

We awoke to a solemn quiet this morning. There is a light breeze and a little rain. Forecast is for more serious rain and wind over the next 48 hours. This is the Gustav residual. People from parts of the Texas coast are being told they may go back home.

Of course, we see there are other disturbances in the Atlantic. Looks like this might be a busier weather season than we had last year.

No newspaper in the driveway this morning. That is a poor way to start the day!

Gustav Update - Rain & Wind Coming

We are expecting lots of rain and wind to reach East Texas soon.

At home, outdoor items are battened down, flags and banners down, door ornament off; trash and recycle bins are in the garage.

Inside are provisions including spare batteries and simple food. What we anticipate is power outage. What we pray for is no damage to our house or fencing.

We are as ready as we can get and have a portable TV and radio.

Here in town are lots of evacuees and there is a feeling of shelter and preparedness.

Thanks for your prayers!

Be Prepared!

Well, the town is busy, some gas pumps are empty, and we’re a bit edgy. Even though people have been evacuated to our area, we ourselves must be prepared as Hurricane Gustav moves toward Texas. As noted yesterday, a big problem here is power outage, causing us to be pretty hot. Police had to be called to Wal-Mart in one town yesterday because chaos broke out at the bottled water display. Could that be why our supermarket has the water outside the front of the store? There must be some humor to this whole event!

One couple has gone up to Dallas to visit their son but I think they will likely be back by Monday. Another, whose home is in a mobile home park are on their way north to their daughter’s. So, they will be missing from church in the morning. Perhaps some out-of-towners will stop in to pray for themselves, their friends and what they left behind.

People from the Texas Gulf Coast are now headed here and the hotels and tourist homes are solidly booked. Some people will be here from Louisiana. So, it’s busy and a little rude out there.

We just came in from dinner at Catfish King and it seemed very loud there. On the loop, people were sort of rude and rushing. So, a good place to be is home.

We have everything we need and we will pray that as the branches fall during the high winds, that nothing falls on our house.

When people told me about gas stations running out of gas last night, I thought of Hubby and me on 9-11. Back then, I was not yet an American citizen and we were headed to Terre Haute, Indiana for Hubby’s college reunion. Hubby is that Engineer that my Daddy always said you needed for just about everything. (Daddy was right about that!)

As we were preparing to leave, we saw on TV what most people saw happening in New York City that day.

There was one specific thought that came to my mind and any of you from Toronto can relate to that thought.

When I was young, Dad always said if there was any threat, we would just get in the car and drive north.

Well, Daddy’s been gone 46 years and if we drive north from Texas, we’re still a long way from Canada’s northland.

So, what I went back for was my passport, because once you are in Indiana, well you could be headed north . . .

As we drove up the interstates, every time we would stop for gas, we would see signs that there was none or long lines of cars.

Long story short, we made it to Terre Haute and the reunion went on as usual.

When we arrived in Terre Haute (“High Land”), we went to the church Hubby attended when he was there and we prayed. And we read Psalm 91.

Although 9-11 is never forgotten, we made it through as did many others.

We will make it though this storm too – with good planning, a little luck and lots of praying.

Luxurious Vacation

Having been away from the Toronto area and living in East Texas for almost 12 years now, I am able to see more clearly the distinct differences.

We are expecting Hurricane Gustav in three to four days. The last two hurricanes to really impact this area were Katrina, the one that devastated New Orleans and another named Rita.

Katrina impacted our area in that many people came here and on down to Houston to get away. Some never went back; they stayed here.

We happened to be in Shreveport, Louisiana when Katrina was on her way and we left early the last morning of our stay and ambled down back roads to keep away from the heavy traffic on the major thruways.

Rita did bring damage to our area – mostly downed trees and many damaged roofs. She also took out our power, or as you in Ontario know it, “Hydro”.

(Electric power in Ontario is mostly generated from water, such as Niagara Falls and since “Hydra” is the word for water, you get the idea.)

To help you get the humor, let me digress and tell you how much people in Ontario love to leave their city homes, often near water and take a break at a cottage. The humorist Stephen Leacock wrote about how much Ontario folks like to live and vacation near the water.

Well, when I was about 20, a friend of mine invited me to her family’s cottage for a week. Their cottage was actually on an island, their island. Now, I had been to her home which was very large and suitably situated in a fine Toronto neighborhood. I had also been to her family’s hobby farm also with a spacious, comfortable house.

Well, I took a bus from Toronto up to Parry Sound on Georgian Bay (maybe 120 miles) and she came to meet me in a fancy car. We drove to the dock where she parked and we got in to a large and impressive boat.

So, I was not prepared for their island. There was no electricity and no indoor plumbing, only outhouses. (Now, I think there may have been more than one outhouse, which of course is impressive.)

I stayed on the island for a week and actually had a very nice break although at age 20, I did not truly appreciate how nice a break it actually was.

In Texas, so far, I have not heard about people taking this type of vacation.

So far, in our neighborhood, the destruction since I have been here has generally been fallen trees, downed fences (which are mostly wooden), and some roofs damaged. The temperature here gets really hot and the most oppressive thing about a hurricane is the power outage. That means no air-conditioning and when the temperature is 90 – 100 degrees that becomes a major problem. (Air conditioning is not a luxury here.)

So Hubby and I are sitting on our reclining sofa in the late evening and it is not too hot yet. We are in the dark, reclined back, holding hands and I say,

“Do you know what we call this in Ontario?”

“No, what?” (Hubby is a very good straight man and is an Illinois native.)

“A luxurious vacation!”

So, it looks like Gustav is heading our way and let’s pray that it is just a “luxurious vacation” again!