Harvey Is A Real Jerk

This past weekend the great state of Texas was visited by a weather system named Harvey.  Harvey was a hurricane, a Category 4 at landfall. We had a long time to watch him coming.  All the weather reports for the entire week prior to landfall were grim; Harvey was going to do some damage to my part of the state. It was expected to stall a bit north of Victoria after coming on shore at Corpus Christi, and then sit there for a bit. The rain predictions for my town, San Antonio, were for anywhere from 3 to 13 inches--they just couldn't say for sure.  Houston wasn't supposed to be hit as hard, as it would be east of the majority of the storm.

The entire city of San Antonio, and Bexar county as well, whipped into action like this was old hat, establishing emergency operations, gathering the needed supplies for the situation, opening shelters to welcome those evacuating from the coast, etc. Schools were closed early on Friday, employees were sent home, businesses closed.  Even SeaWorld and Six Flags closed for the weekend.  We all put on our big girl panties to deal with Harvey in an orderly fashion, purchasing food and water for the weekend, just in case.  And when Harvey hit the coast, San Antonio's invitation to visit was waiting.  We were ready.

When you are prepared for an event, almost everything you were worried about never occurs. Hurricanes are unpredictable, and Harvey was predictable in at least that regard.  And as prepared as the entire state was, nobody seemed to be prepared for the storm to hit Houston instead of San Antonio.  San Antonio had some rain, and gusts of wind.  I kept an eye on the skies, and an ear to the weather reports. Like you do  We got three inches of rain in the gauge, total.  I went to bed thinking that Harvey was just being coy, and would move into our area that night or the next day.

Instead of heading west,however, Harvey staggered east, right into Houston.  San Antonio was ready; Houston was not, I thought.  But FORTY inches of rain?  The only people who might even be remotely prepared for the amount of rain that fell in Houston would be those related to Noah.  Most of the fourth largest city in America is underwater. 

People have been displaced from their homes by the thousands.  The ones who were lucky enough not to have flooded, like some of my family members, are surrounded by water, and are trapped. Refineries and other essential businesses are surrounded.  And the water may not recede for weeks.  WEEKS, people.  Houston is essentially a lake right now, and the true destruction costs won't be known for at least that long.  Not cool, Harvey. You're not only a jerk, you bought the lobster dinner, and stuck Texas with the bill.

There are lots of agencies that are heading to Houston, and the coast, to help Texas clean up.  Everyone in America will do what they can to help, either by volunteering or by donating money.  We all seem to come together when catastrophes happen. Some people are saying not to give money to organizations like the Red Cross or the Humane Societies, because they pay their CEOs lots of money.  However, large organizations like the Red Cross have mobile response units at the ready and are likely already helping out in the Houston area. Give to the organization you feel comfortable with. If you want to donate items, buy dry socks and underthings. A variety of sizes. Wet socks and underpants cause chafing and rot, and nobody likes that. This isn't going to be a short rescue, and things are going to be messy.  Like Katrina, it may take years for the Houston area to arrive back at some sort of normal.  But get back to normal they will. We're not about to let some hurricane bring us down for long. 

Harvey is moving along, like jerks always do.

Stay safe, everyone.

Random-dee-dom-dom

We were able to have our first soccer game of the season last weekend.  There was a big opening ceremony, with mayors and councilmen and reverends--Oh my!  I had my camera out and was snapping away.  I may have gotten a little carried away with taking pictures of my own child, as he so eloquently informed me.

Okay, okay! I parked myself on a lawn chair with all the other moms and put the camera away.  Zane's team played beautifully, and they won.  Zane had one almost goal, but more importantly, he remembered what he was supposed to do during the game without anybody telling him, and he passed the ball instead of hogging it.  That's progress in my book!

I am completely shocked these days when I read about how other countries treat their little girls.  Supposedly a 40 year old man married an 8 year old girl.  In this day?  That has to be a sign of a backwards society--a 40 year old man marrying an 8 year old girl. That's pedophilia, by any definition.  India has all but killed off most of their girls by aborting them, because they don't want to be saddled with a dowry. Now men in India who want to marry have to buy their brides instead of wooing them; CNN says there are poor girls stolen from their parents and sold for that purpose. What is wrong with these other countries that they treat their women so poorly?  Girls are not property, they are not a burden, they are not to be sold by the pound.  They are to be loved and cherished and nurtured into adulthood so they can love and cherish and nurture the next generation!  I just need to stop reading or listening to the news.  I always end up upset.  

Hurricane season seemed to start with a whimper, but it certainly heated up in a hurry.  I think that last week there were three storms in the Atlantic--Gabrielle, Humberto, and Ingrid. We are supposed to be getting rain from Ingrid in the Gulf and Manuel from the Pacific.  I feel strongly that we need a hurricane Millicent.  That just seems like a good name for a hurricane.  Also, perhaps they can have a season where all the hurricanes are named after characters from the Harry Potter universe?

We FINALLY got to see the last Star Trek movie.  My husband went out and bought the blu ray, and we watched at home, with commentary by Zane.  He wasn't really watching the movie, he was hiding in his Boy Nest and playing games on his tablet.  Every now and then he'd pop up, make some comment, then burrow back underneath his pile of pillows.  He decided that he liked the character of Chekov, but I think that was mostly because of the accent.  The accent made Zane giggle.

Yes, that is indeed a Christmas tree.  They were putting them up at Macy's when we were there on Sunday.  Here it is, not even the end of September, and Macy's is putting out Christmas stuff.  There is something wrong with that!  Everyone knows that the everlasting candy of Halloween(I still have some on the shelf!) comes before the evergreens!!!!

Let's try this visiting Stacy again, even if it is a little early.  Last week there was some sort of glitch. Have a great day/week!