Oh Look, It's Martha From Texas!

Well, we're planning a trip to Toronto in the spring! Even after twelve years in East Texas, I still enjoy going "home" for a visit! I think probably everyone who lives far away from where they were raised feels the same way!

We were there the year before last and since then one cousin and one friend have died. Time does march on and although I don't dwell on it, I do feel bad that I am not there to be part of the grieving process and so closure is a bit harder for me.

Writing my book, Bumpy Road To Texas, has helped me put several things into perspective. Also, it is so nifty that I have a close friend living near me who shares Canadian roots with me.

I think people who have always lived in one place, or at least in the same country all of their life do not realize that just the little things you take for granted make up part of the picture you look for when you go "back home".

We have often gone up in May and that is in part because my High School Reunion is held then. My birthday is then too, so I always look for lilac bushes because in North Toronto, that is when they bloomed. We always picked bouquets and brought them in on my birthday. We have bushes called Crepe Myrtle here in East Texas and they look very similar but they do not have the same scent.

I always go to Shoppers Drug Mart and Loblaws. I usually go to the Bay because they generally have some nifty souvenirs. Yes, we do have drug stores and grocery stores and a department store here. You cannot get a Hudson Bay Company striped scarf at the Belk Department store and you cannot purchase Habitant French-Canadian Pea Soup at Brookshire's!

Swiss Chalet is always the first restaurant I look for in any Canadian city. Now, Hubby Keith does not always order the Quarter Chicken Dinner and that really centers him out as an American! To me, Swiss Chalet is a BBQ chicken restaurant, but to an Southern American, barbeque is "kicked-up" a lot hotter than that. Ah, yes, that reminds me that I really must take a bottle of real hot sauce . . .

Toronto has got bigger and bigger and so I am very lucky that I still have friends in Port Hope where it is very laid back. Oh yes, there is a Swiss Chalet there!

I think one of the very best parts of "going home" is that it always seems like just yesterday I last saw everyone. That probably has a lot to do with keeping in touch via e-mail and Facebook.

There is one young man who wasn't yet born when I lived there. So William sees me a little differently. I will knock on the door at number 17 and he will open it and say,

"Oh look, it's Martha from Texas!"

Powered Up Again!

After 57 hours without, power to our house is up and running and we hope and pray it stays that way. Many, many people in our area are still without! 

Because we have been without TV news, we really only know what we have been told over the phone. 

Guess we are out of touch with radio and do not have the right equipment to receive news. A few of our gadgets died, including a TV. Hubby and I really do try to keep up with everything and probably that was the most stressful thing for us: not knowing what was going on. 

The cell phone was super for sending and receiving texts and calls from friends and family. 

If you have been reading previous messages in this blog, then you will understand that we are now “back from our luxurious vacation”. 

On the up side, we loved how young Wil (five and a half years old) was watching and worrying for us. We had many calls from his Grandmother in Ontario. They were keeping us updated from CNN. Thanks for all your prayers from Ontario and Alberta, Iowa, California, Michigan and Ohio! 

Thanks Elaine, for calling Swiss Chalet to deliver the BBQ chicken to us from Toronto, even if only in our dreams! 

Now, we have not watched the news yet, but we are sorry that apparently Ike continued on up, all the way to Ontario! Sorry to those of you who received residual. 

Thanks to all the folks who made it a little easier on us: Raul with ice, Daisy with ice, Armando with the clean-up, and to anyone I am forgetting. Thanks to all the employees who were able to open up essential services quickly. Simple gestures were what we needed. 

We had no church on Sunday – that is another story: first time! 

Will try to post again with some photos of our area in East Texas. We are blessed in that we received very little damage: mostly downed tree limbs. We are in a brick house and it seems to have survived nicely. 

I must stress to you up north that our area was an evacuation area where people came to be safe and we actually probably took a little bigger hit than originally expected. 

I wore my Big Bear Lake (California) 1991 – 1992 Survival Shirt on Saturday – in memory of my niece, Rosalyn who loved California as much as I love Texas.

What I Really Miss About Canada!

Just a quick update on Hurricane Ike. As you know, it has made landfall at the Texas Coast and for us in East Texas, this means possible tornados and major winds and rain.

On our property, some branches are already down but the wind is now picking up. The report is that there is a tree down on the loop as you exit to the highway. As my computer is right by a front window, I will be signing off. 

For those of you up north who do not experience this, we should now be in an inner room without windows. The center bathroom is the safest but a little confining. We have a fairly safe middle room where Keith put the wood up over the only window and we hope that holds up well. While we still have power right now, experience tells us that will be out eventually. We have lots of provisions - bottled water, canned goods, snacks and even a little chocolate! We have a small portable TV, radio, and batteries. The local station is continuing around the clock (with our friend minding the store). It is also accessible on radio.

Our family are all hunkered down and should be safe, especially Meghan in South Korea, David & Nadine in Los Angeles, Louise in Cleveland (Ohio), and the "Gang" in Iowa. 

Buddy, the Lhasa is sticking right with us and anytime he goes out, he will be on a lead. All fencing is wooden and I see our neighbor's wide gate is already down. Ferocious is the best word to describe it outside.

So, it is for times like this that I really miss my basement. Houses in this area are built on flat  concrete slabs - ours extends out to a patio which is covered. 

Yup: when people ask me what I miss most about Canada, I try to be light about it. Of course, I miss seeing friends and relatives. Some things have changed over the twelve years but when we visit, I always turn on CBC and CTV and Global and watch familiar faces and hear my accent. (Down here, people still think I have an accent, eh? Up there, people think I have a Texas accent.)  Make no mistake: I LOVE CANADA!

But when people ask, I try to keep it simple! I tell them what I really miss is Swiss Chalet BBQ Chicken Restaurant and MY BASEMENT!

Oh, and to my special friend,  five-year-old Wil. Thank you so much for your note which is printed out for us to read today.  Keep praying for us. Lots of love from Martha in Texas!