We are home … ended up evacuating to Marble Falls, Texas last Thursday.  God is good … we spent four days in a 2 bedroom rental on Lake LBJ (that’s Lyndon Baines Johnson to you non-Texans) … nothing fancy, but it was clean, there was a kitchen and the sliding glass door entry looked directly on the lake where our kids (Jami and her best friends) spent the entire time swimming in the lake.  That was a blessing because it kept their minds off worrying about what was happening back home or if there would even be a home to go back to.

The landlady even gave us a discount — charging us a $100 per night, rather than the $135 she normally charges.  The place we stayed was “Honey Beech Lodge” … we are seriously considering returning there, but with a much less pressured itinerary, someday.

I’ve been checking out the photos and such on the Houston Chronicle website.  We haven’t been able to really go and see anything … mainly because we don’t want to (a) get in the way of people trying to work, and (b) waste gasoline driving around.  Here’s an interesting video of how Texans respond to a crisis … I am amazed at how people have rolled up their sleeves and dove in to get things up and running.  Granted, we’ll be without power for a time because we have a downed utility pole in our yard and it is not affecting anyone else (thus we fall low on the priority list)… but I am amazed at how quickly the rest of our community got power back, as well as many surrounding areas.  The video of Gaido’s throwing a shrimp boil for the first responders on the Seawall of Galveston made me smile.  Here are people working their backsides off in an effort to get Galveston back on the road to normal, and the good people at Gaido’s restaurant helped out by doing what they do best:  feed the crowd.  And they didn’t just hand out a styrofoam plate with some grub on it.  The first responders were able to sit down to a linen-clothed table, with flowers no less, and rest for a bit while they broke bread.  It’s pretty cool to see that folks can maintain civility even in the midst of a crisis.  Seems like so many use a catastrophe to go all “Lord of the Flies” on each other, rather than helping each other survive.

Our neighbor has power now and used his electrician skills to run a powerline over to our house.  We are trying not to take excessive advantage of it, only using it to run a couple of box fans and a couple of lights in the evening, plus our refrigerator.  And when all is said and done, we will be making a contribution toward his electric bill, of course.  Our main concern at this time is the septic system.  It is run by electricity and if the tank becomes too full, it could backflow into the house.  So we are “camping” indoors with a camp toilet, and using caution in our water usage … quick showers and careful handwashing (no wasting of water while lathering), in hopes that the tank will not fill too quickly.  Speaking of water, because our well is electric, too, our neighbor and my guy managed to utilize the hoses used for a washing machine to connect our neighbor’s well to one of the exterior faucets of our house.  I’m not quite sure what they did or how it works, but somehow we do have water for showering and cooking.

I do not complain, though, because my family and friends are safe, my home is still intact, and God has blessed us with beautiful weather these last few days.  Any of you who live in Texas or have visited this time of year know that it can be very warm and humid even in September … so the highs of 80 degrees and lows in the upper 50’s, low 60’s at night have been a true gift.  I understand it will be getting warmer next week, but evenso, I do not expect it will be all that bad.  As I have an opportunity, I will try to update you on how things are going here. 

And to all of you who offered up prayers and even offered us shelter from the storm, you are the dearest of friends and I love you all.   Thank you so much!