Stop and Remember When.

Here I am, the Queen of Inconsistency. Ahhh, what a relief that I can be somewhat predictable. I’m supposed to be getting ready for work, but that’s really not much fun. I have to cram in about 6 hours worth of work into a tiny space of 3 hours. Yep, so much for planning. So much for structure and scheduling. That was what we had said we were going to do about 2 months ago, but it has went out the window and flown away. Our daily lives are very unorganized.

Which brings me to why I woke up and walked, no RAN to my blog. I had a dream last night that I was traveling (possibly pregnant) [in my dream- let’s not get any rumors started, shall we?] during a major storm. In this dream, there was a pregnant cat that was rainbow colored that couldn’t eat fish, a very large dog that was being nursed back to health after some unnamed accident and a large array of family and friends. That’s just a bit of what I remember. The dream began with me driving in my car as it rained in my hometown from one end to the other(through what is known as the Main road) when a siren went off to announce that a tornado was near.

Now, let’s get two things straight. We do have a siren in our town, but it is not for tornados. Second, although there have been a few reports through the years, we do not get tornados.

Well, as the dream progressed- I made my way through very distinct places trying desperately to dodge flying objects, torrential rains, and the tornado itself. Finally, we found shelter and the dream disapaited into me looking for someone and out of the blue, my older brother appears and announces he is going to cash in a few of his coffee stocks.

Yeah, not for sure where that ending was going…but, I think I know what the jest of this dream was saying. First off, it brought me back to one particular memory back in the late summer of ’97, when my good friend Anna and I were stuck in town during a very big rainstorm. A memory that has stuck with me throughout the years. (Seeing the actual year in type-print, is really making me feel old about now.) Anyway, we met up with another friend, got soaked, and headed to the lake after driving through the rain. It was apparently a big kick to try to drive in a downpour back then, especially when no one else is on the road and time just kinda stands still.

Well…tis dream and that particular memory reminded me of that simplicity and the thrill that existed during that time in my life. It was chaotic, but by far planned. Life simply occurred regardless of how much I tried to control it. I think the biggest thing I tried to do back then, was that I resisted growing up- and sometimes thinking back, I am very proud of myself for doing that. Because, although life now is wonderful (being a wife and mother)- I miss that spontaneity and the sheer joy of living. I don’t think I had a care in the world then. And, I want go back to being soaked in the excitement of simply living.

I think I’m going to sip my coffee and savor that memory a little bit longer this morning. I’m going to soak up all it has to offer for as long as I can today. Youcanrushtoworkforme.

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Yikes is right, it’s Ike.

Beth sure is right, yikes is all I can say for the residents facing the aftermath of Hurricane Ike. Many of you may be sick to death of all my hurricane talk around here, but mother nature truly is an awesome force to be reckoned with and I simply cannot resist documenting her destruction, along with some history.

Storms have always fascinated me. Floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, lightening, earthquakes, volcanoes…you name it…and I am glued for hours to the television. You can imagine my joy when I was offered a course in college called “Natural and Man-made Disasters”. It covered all of the above and more. I learned so much in this one little class, that it spurred my desire to change my minor from history to geography and to wish my actual major was in geography. At the time, it was way too late in the game to do that. And so, my minor became all things topographical, cultural, and historical. That’s the thing about geography it covers everything. It’s a wonderful subject and major that is often overlooked.

One of the topics we had covered, obviously had been hurricanes. Hurricanes were a huge deal since ODU was located in Norfolk, which is barely above sea level and is a major U.S. port. Therefore, our professor (Freebird as we called him) assigned us to read the book, Issac’s Storm by Eric Larson. This is the 1900 storm that devastated Galveston, Texas killing over 6,000 people because the United States choose not to heed Cuba’s warnings of the approaching Category 5 storm. (-Which in retrospect, the storm’s category is actually unknown since wind and surge instruments and other meterologist tools were just beginning to be invented. It may have been more of a Category 3.) However, this very storm is what prompted the city to build a seawall. Up until Ike, this seawall had been good at protecting its citizens. For more on Isaac’s storm and to view a few pictures, visit this link.

Both this story and Ike, remind me of my days living in Houston and how on the weekends, I would visit Galveston pier. It prompted a search for an old picture of me fishing off the pier at Galveston Islands. (where I accidentally hooked a stingray and couldn’t catch anything more than baby shark.) My interest in this picture is that this pier I am pictured on has a large hotel sitting out on it about 1000 feet from the main road- (Seawall Blvd.)

I remember thinking to myself, one day that thing isn’t going to be there. I also remember being amazed as I realized how vast the sea really was. (Even though, I frequented the beaches of the east coast since a child, I never fully realized how big fish could get or how powerful hurricanes really were. I was a naive soul back then.) Anyway, here is a picture of the Flagship Hotel minus me. This is a video of the Seawall Blvd. and the Pier yesterday before even making landfall. Look how high the surge is and the Ike was still some 9 hours away! I wonder if it has survived. As I search the Internet today, I will keep you posted.

Although, I doubt that many folks have lost their lives because of modern inventions, I do fear there will be a death toll since only 60% of the Galveston residences actually evacuated- leaving nearly 20,000 or so brave souls to weather Ike’s impact alone.

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There she blows….

Ok the power keeps flickering on and off, so I will make this quick.

It’s been typical, a bit lopsided, so we get heavy rains for awhile with some huge wind gusts and then it dies down. The highest report gust thus far is 45 miles about 5 miles from here.

It should be making landfall with high tide in about an hour or so. I would love to get some pictures, but since it’s nighttime we can’t really pull that one off.

But, the wind is howling and blowing those trees- Bryan and Garrett are sleeping right through it. Crazy, guess I should try as well.

Oh, I got a search hit for hurricane preparedness, so I believe once this thing has blown over, I will write up something on what you need and what you should do in case of a hurricane. Because, ya never know when you might end up in one. Even, inland it seems.

Ok, that’s 4 flicks of the power in 5 minutes. I need to go turn the big computer off before it does some damage. Toodles.

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A small Hurricane update

I thought I would give everyone a quick update- the tropical storm/hurricane is estimated to make landfall in south of Myrtle Beach, which is where we live. It is only supposed to have sustained winds of 65-75 mile per hour as of 6 p.m.
I was able to work today, even though rain began early this morning. By 2 p.m. the humidity level was rising and you could feel that low pressure that occurs during hurricanes. It’s a strange feeling, but I promise once you’ve been through a hurricane you start to sense it, probably somewhat like right before a tornado.

Speaking of which, we have a tornado watch in effect for the rest of the night and into the early morning. I think that’s the worse, is you have this one thing going on that you are worried about and then on top of it you get another thing to worry about. Great! At least Bryan will be home tonight and as it makes landfall! That’s a huge relief. We decided to order pizza and rent a movie, hoping the power doesn’t go out until after midnight.

Right now it’s getting darker and the wind is starting to pick up. I’ll be sure to update again tonight before it hits or in the morning…that is if the power doesn’t go off!

Oh and let’s really say a prayer for Florida- as Ike approaches. Hopefully, it will downgrade even more! (My brother and his family live in Orlando and my mom and sister will be visiting there NEXT week!)

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Weird Weather

Tonight, when I was trying for the first time to blog (around 7 ish) a hellish thunderstorm pounded us. It was insane. We had 65 mph gusts of wind and believe me, I thought we were going to lose another tree or a tornado was going to appear. It didn’t even start to rain until after the ‘wind storm’. Then the wind was gone and it poured. The heat was unbearable today, I’m sure that’s how this storm cropped up.

I was so afraid that I brought the boys (our dogs) in from the garage, and the four of us huddled in the bedroom hallway/closet until the storm passed by. I am petrified of tornadoes and after the one that hit the Chesapeake, VA area in April…I am not messing around. I remember too many times while living in Newport News and driving home from college in Norfolk, thinking to myself that I was in the midst of a small tornado. That’s exactly what tonight seemed like. Bryan told me over the phone that Murrells Inlet received 1 and half inch hail with numerous trees down. He said it drifted out to sea rather than moving on up the coast. I think we only caught the tail-end of the storm tonight. Lucky us.

Below is a video of the April tornado in VA.

This makes the 2nd trip into the closet that we have made since Garrett’s birth. Guess after you have a little one, your outlook on alot of things change. While living in Norfolk, I stayed during the 2003 Hurricane Isabel. If you’re like me, you’ve heard that when a massive storm is going to hit, there’s a dead calm that occurs right before it and believe me, it’s so true. The air is also very thick. We didn’t even get the brunt of that hurricane, as it made landfall at Cape Fear, NC. That’s a good 4 hours from Norfolk, yet we experienced winds as high as 90 mph in the dead of night. Power was off from 11 a.m. the morning before in struck until two weeks after. Tornadoes jumped out of Hurricane Isabel and actually did most of the damage, we were lucky it didn’t strike during high tide or that it wasn’t dead on. Isabel was a Category 5, but made landfall as a Category 3. The Outerbanks were destroyed. I bartended in a bar being powered by a generator. It was so terribly hot. It was an insane experience.

This is a video of Hurricane Isabel in Elizabeth City, NC; about 45 mins from Norfolk- but this is what I witnessed, as well)

I have always been a thrill seeker. But, I can promise you that I will never do that again. Not with a child, anyway. Things definitely change. For the better.

Isn’t it amazing what you can find on YouTube!?!

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