As I had blogged about my birthplace eventually getting back to its self as Hurricane Katrina hit, I think about Houston, the place I called home for 14 years, as Hurricane Rita approaches.
My parents still live in Kingwood (a 'burb about 30 miles north of Houston) as my sister and her husband live about 25 minutes away from there. Since they are very high above sea level and about 80 miles away from the shore, they are very wise in staying put. They've boarded up their houses just in case as the prediction is that there may be some power outages, high wind and a few downed trees. The damage may be worse or may be less but I can say is this; I have faith that any damage will be fixable in some form or another. If destruction is really a form of creation, then I won't worry.
Don't think that I'm wishing for mass destruction and shattered and/or lost lives here. Hurricanes happen; just like thunderstorms, flat tires, paper cuts and all other sorts of things that we can never really prepare ourselves for. The importance is to do something and to not blame ourselves for doing what we want to do, consequences and all.
Galveston has been hit by many hurricanes before and I truly believe that the town will regroup following the storm's passing. Yes, this storm, no matter how intense it gets, will pass. I try to explain this philosophy to others but others choose to focus on the frenzy of what might happen. I choose to not drag the waters of despair while others want to bathe in it.
Now it's really easy for me to sit here in Dallas 4.5 hours away from the shoreline and make these observations and act calm. I'm concerned for my family but especially my friends that live closer to shore. Matt works in Galveston and I have no doubt in my mind that he and Kim have evacuated to higher ground. My uncle Bill and aunt Linda have lived in Galveston for a long time and I'm sure they got out OK. Seeing I-45 jammed like sardines from Houston all the way to Ennis (which is 30 miles south of Dallas) is pretty scary to see. Hearing of people driving hours and hours to go a few dozen miles is crazy. Seeing gas stations be out of gas while the ones that have gas be packed is nuts. This is pure panic time, but I choose to stay in an optimistic light while a pessimistic light is on too, but only slightly dimmer.
My parents still live in Kingwood (a 'burb about 30 miles north of Houston) as my sister and her husband live about 25 minutes away from there. Since they are very high above sea level and about 80 miles away from the shore, they are very wise in staying put. They've boarded up their houses just in case as the prediction is that there may be some power outages, high wind and a few downed trees. The damage may be worse or may be less but I can say is this; I have faith that any damage will be fixable in some form or another. If destruction is really a form of creation, then I won't worry.
Don't think that I'm wishing for mass destruction and shattered and/or lost lives here. Hurricanes happen; just like thunderstorms, flat tires, paper cuts and all other sorts of things that we can never really prepare ourselves for. The importance is to do something and to not blame ourselves for doing what we want to do, consequences and all.
Galveston has been hit by many hurricanes before and I truly believe that the town will regroup following the storm's passing. Yes, this storm, no matter how intense it gets, will pass. I try to explain this philosophy to others but others choose to focus on the frenzy of what might happen. I choose to not drag the waters of despair while others want to bathe in it.
Now it's really easy for me to sit here in Dallas 4.5 hours away from the shoreline and make these observations and act calm. I'm concerned for my family but especially my friends that live closer to shore. Matt works in Galveston and I have no doubt in my mind that he and Kim have evacuated to higher ground. My uncle Bill and aunt Linda have lived in Galveston for a long time and I'm sure they got out OK. Seeing I-45 jammed like sardines from Houston all the way to Ennis (which is 30 miles south of Dallas) is pretty scary to see. Hearing of people driving hours and hours to go a few dozen miles is crazy. Seeing gas stations be out of gas while the ones that have gas be packed is nuts. This is pure panic time, but I choose to stay in an optimistic light while a pessimistic light is on too, but only slightly dimmer.
Comments
Thanks for the heads-up and glad to hear from you.