kittens

kittens, originally uploaded by AmyEmilia.

These little innocents remind us to live in the Now - no brooding about the past or obsessing about the future. We only have Now.

Yet more hurricane news...

Seems I write about weather a lot! At this writing, Hurricane Gustav is leaving Cuba and heading for NOLA. Along the way it will sweep rain bands across Florida (and maybe Georgia will get some more rain, to break the drought). And who knows about Houston? We will see.

Right now, my husband and I are hanging out on South Padre Island, which is nearly back to normal after Hurricane Dolly. Still lots of roofs with tarps though, and many of the retail establishments have bent-over signs. But almost everything is open - most importantly, Dirty Al's! We went there for lunch yesterday, and the shrimp is still awesome.

I'm scheduled to head back to Houston on Tuesday but that will probably depend on what Gustav does.

up in the air again

rainbow storm, originally uploaded by AmyEmilia.

I'm traveling, seems like I haven't spent much time at home lately. Visited my parents for several days - lots of fun but not much sleep. Now in Tampa for work, and back to Houston on Tuesday. But only two days and I'll be back onthe road again, this time to South Padre for the Labor Day holiday. Hopefully the weather will be cooperative!

Sorry to be such a poor correspondent...

a moment of contentment between man and bird

a moment of contentment between man and bird, originally uploaded by AmyEmilia.

Had a lovely visit from my brother and his family - including their Senegal Parrot, Sam. He's got an agressive looking beak (the bird, not my brother!) but actually is pretty peaceful unless you sneak up on him. They have had him since 2001 so in Senegal Parrot Years he is about middle age. Oddly so is my brother! :)

Revisiting Hurricane Dolly

hurricane dolly 2, originally uploaded by AmyEmilia.

My husband just sent me this photograph, one of five that he took during the time that Hurricane Dolly was pummeling South Padre Island. Just stunning.

Edouard turns out to be more rain than wind...

at least for us. So far we have gotten 1.60 inches of rain. The garden is laughing and the birds are so happy. We even saw a hummingbird during one of the breaks between rain bands. We walked down to the little bayou and it doesn't even look like it came out of it's bank. So glad this turned out to be a non-event on the west side of Houston. Looks like other areas more eastern probably got a whole lot more rain and wind.

Quiet in Houston

All is quiet in Houston - drizzle and a few breezy moments so far. I see the clouds moving overhead as TS Edouard heads our way. The storm should pass over our part of the city sometime around 2PM.

The drive up from South Padre Island was easy - no weather issues and the traffic was light. Refueled in Victoria at the McDonald's/gas station as usual (that is our favorite place to stop and refuel body and vehicle).

Working from home today!

Update on the Island

We have been here in South Padre since Thursday morning. The beach, as you can see, is significantly eroded but the dunes are still in place. I'm impressed by how hard-packed the sand is - I guess the constant pounding of waves and rain will do that to sand. There are a surprising number of visitors here, too!

The house has fared pretty well. We have found a couple areas where water has come in, looks like it blew in through the brick on the western side of the house, and also down the common wall we share with our neighbor. Neither is very serious. I've wiped down the walls with a 10% bleach solution to kill the mold, and we will let the walls dry and see if the mold comes back. The house has been vacuumed twice, the windows cleaned, and (the nastiest job) the food thrown out from the fridge. The fence is propped up but will have to be replaced on two sides I think. The backyard neighbor has really bad damage (his house is quite old I think). The trees and shrubs all over the island are stripped of leaves. Our bougainvillea is just starting to put out brave new leaves on its bare branches.

The neighbor's cats have been invisible. But this morning I saw Nerino walking across the street, and Little Mama and her very vocal kitten arrived on the back patio as well. We put down food and milk, and they scarfed it down in no time flat. Still no sign of my husband's favorite, Faithful.

The power has been on since at least Wednesday, and the water is safe (since Saturday, according to Laguna Madre Water).

We went swimming yesterday. The water is fine - sandy green as the Island Breeze calls it - but the waves are big and the current moderately strong. Makes it fun to sit on the beach and just go in every half hour or so, instead of staying out there. Maybe today it will be calmer.