Hello from southeast Texas...pics added

[Wannabefree]

Deb I have been telling you you're gonna have to move to the South

 

[Denim Deb]

Yeah, but you're in TN, Jill is in Texas. So, it's not like the 2 of you are that close to begin with!

Actually, I've been thinking of Kentucky. But, I don't know that it will ever happen-unless I ditch hubby.

 

[Wannabefree]

So move to midwest Mississippi and you can be between us all

 

[Denim Deb]

Not one of the areas I've looked into. Maybe I should check it out.

 

[Wannabefree]

Tupelo area is really nice, as are several other larger but not too large cities there.

 

[txcanoegirl]

Y'all are funny. And inspiring, so I have to get busy. It's cold (52--that's cold to me) and raining, so it's inside work today. I got a good buy on garlic last week and need to get it peeled and chopped for the dehydrator before it all starts sprouting. Of all the things we grow, I don't have garlic. Go figure. I got kind of cranky when I saw the country of origin was China. That's pure inspiration to get my own garlic. I can't believe I bought garlic from China, and didn't notice!

Deb, believe it or not, but I have canoe friends all over the place. Some of us "met" over 12 years ago on the paddling.net forum and after a long internet friendship and back-and-forth jawing, we all decided to get together on the river instead of around the cyber campfire. Ever since then, we have been paddling together at least once or twice a year in the Missouri Ozarks, usually the Current River. It seemed like a central location since we've had folks show up from more than a dozen states. Despite fears that some of the internet "friends" might turn out to be axe murderers, no axes were harmed and lifelong friendships forged. Some of those folks from our first Ozark Rendezvous were present when my husband proposed to me on the river, almost 4 years ago, and the next day when we got the marriage license and got married.

Off to get some work done...

Jill

 

[frustratedearthmother]

The dreaded "H" word! When Rita was threatening we decided to abandon ship - guess where we went? We went to the in-laws place between Livingston and Woodville. Out of the frying pan into the fire! Talk about a bad decision, lol. The problem was that we left our house a couple days ahead of time because of dragging a trailer full of critters - I didn't want to get caught in the inevitable traffic with animals in tow. By the time we got settled in the Hurricane had turned and was going to miss OUR house and hit right where we were. OMG! After that incident, we just decided to stay home for the next Hurricane (Ike). OMG Again! I'm sure we all have our war stories, lol!

 

[txcanoegirl]

That's almost a duplicate of us! For Rita, my parents left here and went to their camphouse, between Woodville and Colmesneil! Lots of damage at both places, but they would probably have been safer remaining at home! By the time Ike came along, I was living here and we had to make a decision which risk was less risky...evacuating 90 year old parents or staying and risking lack of medical care in case of injury. We chose staying. My father was in mid stage alzheimers by then, and going somewhere unfamiliar would have created so much anxiety and confusion, it would have done more harm physically and mentally than good. It was a good decision. We were well prepared to do without electricity or water. We were actually quite comfortable, even without power for two weeks. Daddy was "home" and happy. I brought them to my house, but that was the house he was born and raised in, so it was still "home" to him. We were able to start the damage cleanup immediately. Fortunately, both times, nearly all of the damage was not to the houses,but was to the trees. During Rita, I lost over 23 mature trees on what is now my property and my parents lost about the same number. Fewer lost during Ike, but that's just because Rita had already gotten to 'em. I don't intend to evacuate for future hurricanes except under certain dire circumstances. It's nice being self-sufficient, confident in abilities, and competent!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

So glad you were able to keep your dad comfortable. I totally agree on being able to take care of yourself.

I'm glad we stayed during Ike because we were able to mitigate damage as it occurred. We took a direct hit and had entire window frames actually threatening to blow in. We were able to brace them up and keep it from getting worse. Water blew threw the window frames in my kitchen and ran down walls....a couple days later my kitchen cabinets crumbled, lol... just crumbled away and counter tops buckled. It was our biggest problem - but - I got a brand new kitchen with the granite countertops I always wanted and would never have shelled out for.

We went without power for two weeks also. The best hurricane 'supply' we own is a generator and lots of gas. It's such a blessing to be able to live comfortably on the things you can provide for yourself. We had people coming over for showers and hot meals, lol. It was nice to be able to help. We heard about folks standing in line for hours for meals and water while we were just fine without any outside assistance.

Eventually I'd like to move a little north and possibly east of Houston just to get to some higher land. My place is only about 20 ft above sea level, despite being about 25 miles from Galveston. We might just end up as closer neighbors some day!

 

[txcanoegirl]

You're lucky to have the generator! We don't have our own, but we used my father's generator for both houses. We used the old Kubota tractor and cart to haul it back and forth. We'd hook it up to his freezer for a few hours, then bring it back to our house for a few hours! I bet you were scared to death when the wind and rain started coming in! We have been looking into hurricane resistent storm windows , but they are so pricey. It would be good for year-round security, not just hurricanes.

You must be about the same elevation as us...so not much advantage. We're only 20-22 feet above sea level here, but we have never ever had any problems flooding where we are. I think I'm located on some of the higher ground in our city.

We're long time campers, and I had plenty of camping stove fuel and we ate like royalty. We never lost water, and interestingly enough, the gas stayed on too, so we even had hot showers. Luxury.

My 100 year old house has family stories about it that it was always the house where the extended family would come to hunker down for hurricanes, including a really bad one in 1915. They passed down stories that was the storm that destroyed the bois d'arc fence/windbreak. New houses don't hold a candle to houses built with old growth southern pine and cypress. I lost lots of shingles and got a new roof out of it. I could use a re-do of a lot of things in the house, but think I'll pass if I have to go through another hurricane to get them!

I hear you on the staying-home-to-mitigate-damage rationale. That's our feeling too. While roads are closed and people can't get home to even check on things, we were already cleaning/clearing and getting back to normal.

Back to peeling/chopping garlic...