Hello again!
I can't tell you how happy I am to be back on-line! Today is the first day that we've had Internet access since the storm. I promise to catch up on all the things that have happened over the last month, and post pictures of some of the damage that we had around our home and neighborhood. Through the chaos of the storm, I somehow managed to misplace my little computer gadget that allows me to upload my pictures. Hopefully, it will turn up soon!
It's taken several weeks to clean the debris from all the fallen branches and trees, and to have our driveway fully functional again. We celebrated as the final mountains of overflowing black trash bags where picked up from the enormous piles of debris that decorated our street.
I thought that I would write a lengthy post about what living without electricity was like for so long, but now it just seems like old news. I'm thankful to say that we survived! To sum it up shortly, it was a little like living on the set of one of my favorite TV shows that I watched as a child, "The Little House on the Prairie". (David makes a great Micheal Landon! :-) We entertained ourselves by spending time outside while there was light of the day, and retreated to the darkness of our home as the sun went down. The girls enjoyed the ritual of collecting our lanterns and lighting the candles at dusk. Rather than watching TV or working on the computer, we told stories and read books together by the soft and flickering candlelight. It was a simple way of living, so quite and calm. We lived without the distraction of our telephone ringing, emails waiting to be returned, or the sound of ANY background noise. It was quite and dark. The only thing to be heard was the faint sound of a humming generator that echoed from our neighbors house who lives across the creek.
It seemed eerie at first, but it soon became something that I learned to enjoy. It helped us get back to our roots, and fostered such a sweet and special family bond. I have since joked, that I plan to dedicate one night of the week as being "Ike Night", when we will turn off the TV's and computers and focus on the togetherness that we felt in the aftermath of the storm.
We are so very blessed to say that our experience of the Hurricane only resulted in a just a few minor inconveniences. Our laundry eventually piled up, and we were forced to actually cook by the stove (imagine that!). Just like an episode of "The Amazing Race", my mom and I strategically ventured out of the house and went on a search for ice and bread (only to be greeted with police officers who had court orders to close the grocery store for fear of a riot!). We courageously learned how to navigate Houston's streets without the security of lights and the safety of traffic signals...and of coarse, we sat for hours in lines moving at a snails pace to fill our tanks with gas.
It probably sounds worse than it actually was...or maybe now, just enough time has passed that I am accustomed to the reality of what living through a natural disaster is actually like. After witnessing my mom and stepfather lose their home and every earthly possession in it from Katrina 3 years ago, we as a family have gotten pretty good at looking at the bright side, and finding the silver lining.
From our experiences, we have learned that what matters most are not the sticks and bricks that make our homes nor the things that fill them, but the memories, love, and comfort that we are so blessed to have created and experienced there.
In other news, I will be playing catch up with my writing here and posting about a few, BIG upcoming changes that I will soon be celebrating. I can't wait to share!!!! xoxox
Autumn Blessings from our house to yours,
~Elizabeth
