We're back in Thibodaux. It appears that we will be spared Hurricane Ike's wrath. The people of Haiti and Cuba have taken a bad hit. The storm raked the whole island of Cuba, along with giving grief to the folks in the Florida Keys. Pray for them.
My prayers go forth for the people of Texas, wherever Ike ends up in that state. I pray especially for Mike in Texas and Lindy and Rowan, that they be spared the worst of the storm.
From the comments, Mike says:
I too am watching Ike with some trepidation. Our move will take place on Thursday and Friday. The piano (a 7-foot Steinway) is due to be moved on Thursday. The furniture due to be moved on Friday. Should Ike head this way, things could be rather complicated. I'm always a complete wreck when the piano is moved. I can't even bear to watch them tip if over and remove the legs. (For those who know about such things, it's an unreplacable gem from Steinway's glory days of the 1920s-40s.)
Mike, I hope the piano move goes well, as well as the rest of the move.
Our water here in Thibodaux is terrible. It smells bad and looks dirty. The powers tell us if we boil it for a minute, we can drink it, but it's so nasty tasting and smelling, that I hate to shower in it, much less give a thought to drinking it. As soon as we drove into town, we could smell Bayou Lafourche which is the source of our drinking water. It's full of rotting leaves from Gustav, which causes the bad taste and smell, and I believe they're adding chemicals to try to fix the problem.
Many thanks to all of you for the prayers, concern, and good wishes through all of the hurricane adventure. Trust me. They helped get me through.
UPDATE: Thanks to you, Fran, for keeping all informed in my absence and for much excellent phone therapy. Thanks to you also, Jane R., for posting news, and for additional phone therapy. And you didn't even send me a bill. Imagine!
WOOHOO!!! YOUR HOME!
ReplyDeleteI know you must be relieved, inspite of the stinky water. Good to have you back, Mimi..
Great to see that you're back home and back in action. Should we club together to get you a Brita filter? Or maybe ship you a few cases of bottled water.
ReplyDeleteYAYAYY!!!!!
ReplyDeleteGlad you're back. Fran's been a gem as usual keeping us updated.
Now just waiting to hear from Fr. Hemingway and my other friends in Key West ....
I'm so so glad you are home! (Although that water does sound challenging - ugh). Thanks for alerting us to Mike and Lindy.
ReplyDeleteYea. Home again. With dialup? Better than nothing.
ReplyDeleteWish you were closer and could join us for supper Friday night in Newark!
Time will fix the water. When I get home, my water will smell like sulfur until I run the tanks out a couple of times. Like you, I dislike the prospect of taking a shower.
welcome home grandmere!!! and probably, even if you did bathe in that water --you would still come out smelling like a rose!
ReplyDeleteYes, it is good to be home, in spite of the awful water. Several of our rooms are still dark, because we will leave the boards in place over the glass doors until hurricane season is over. We have one door unboarded, and we opened the shutters, so some rooms have light.
ReplyDeleteBy some miracle Charter cable is back working for online access. I can hardly believe it. It took weeks for them to be up and running after Katrina.
Welcome home, Mimi. I have learned more of the geography of LA than I ever expected: Tracking storms, finding Thibodaux (learning to spell Thibodaux), finding New Roads.
ReplyDeletePrayers for Haiti, Cuba and Texas
Google Earth is fascinating for your neck of the woods (think I mentioned my surprise at the very visible, distinctive medieval French "strip" system of land tenure in an email). It's not easy on Google Earth, when you get closer to the coast, south of Thibodaux, to tell quite where land ends and sea or swamp begins, but I suspect you may have the same problem in real life.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure many of you are learning a bit of geography from looking at maps and Google earth to find our obscure little places.
ReplyDeleteLapin the strip system is operative on Bayou Lafourche as well as in New Roads, which is on False River. The "river" was once part of the Mississippi, but the river changed course and left a crescent shaped lake, which is called False River. If you Google that area, you will see that the strips extend from the "river", just as they do on Bayou Lafourche. New Roads is in Pointe Coupee Parish, which is French for cut off point.
It is quite difficult to see where land ends and water starts in the marshes.
I saw the ox-bow lake (the geomorphological term) and strip system at New Roads when I Google-mapped you destination before the hurricane struck. Thanks for the French lesson. And here I thought that the French for "cut off point" is "Pointe Coupée".
ReplyDeleteOh Mimi, I'm glad you are home even if the water does taste bad. Do you have access to a water filter? Like that Britta one that is a pitcher with filters? It's just a thought and if stores aren't open, then it's moot. Oh and now I see that Lapin has already suggested this. How did i miss that?
ReplyDeleteLove you, kiss you, hug you!!
Welcome home, Mimi. In one of the old Laurel and Hardy movies, they deliver a piano to a house up a long flight of outside stairs, with predictable results.
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ReplyDeleteThanks, Mimi ...
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to get into the new house. And thanks to Ike, that may happen a day earlier than planned.
The movers called this morning. They are very concerned about the possible arrival of Ike Friday afternoon. So they want to start the move tomorrow and get at least half of it done so they can finish up Friday morning.
Surprise! Of course, we're not ready for them!
Meanwhile, they've opened up the EvacuLane on the highway between Corpus and San Antonio.
Great, you're home! I know you're happy to be there.
ReplyDeleteI can tell you that if Ike had come our way, I was not leaving again. I would have hunkered down and ridden it out.
ReplyDeleteMike, I'm glad your move is beginning to happen. Don't send the movers away even if you're not ready.
Ormonde! Mike could read your comment. In all the old movies when the pianos were moved from several stories up, many times out of the window, they always dropped.
SusanKay, as soon as I can, I'm going to look for a Britta filter pitcher. I don't know if it can filter our rotgut, but I may work enough for cooking and tooth brushing. Thanks for the suggestion.
Jim, we may all be forced to populate the rural areas of north central and north Louisiana. But what about the ports and the oil and gas pipelines? Someone has to work there and keeps things going.
Hi Mimi! Glad to see you back and online. Since the water smells so bad, just drink Sherry :>)
ReplyDeleteDoug, is Sherry good for brushing teeth?
ReplyDeleteSo very glad you're back Mimi. I surely missed your wonderful posts and am ready to resume reading. HOpe you don't have a lot to do to get back up and running. And let us hope that Ike misses Jan in Corpus Christi or thereabouts. I hope no one suffers any more this year. It's been a hellish one across the nation for sure.
ReplyDeleteBack home where you belong! I hope the house is fine, though a little beat up.
ReplyDeleteYou can always brush your teeth with gin. It makes a great disinfectant.
The worst drinking water I remember was from west central Texas (around Mineral Wells, the name alone ...). It was so hard and full of minerals you could drive nails with it. It smelled, and tasted, like week old dead fish.
Mimi, if it's really dry Sherry, sure. Though vodka would be even better, I think. (Note: This note is not intended to replace the advice of a trained health care professional, etc. etc.)
ReplyDeleteYes, so glad you are home safe and sound. Have kept friends here up to date with your news. The personal touch adds to the dry news reports we receive. Although many of my day to day contacts look bemused when I speak about my dear friend whom I have never met:-)
ReplyDeleteWelcome home.. and prayers for all of you as you settle in and for Mike and Lindy and the rest as Ike marches toward them... especially for the piano movers.
ReplyDeleteWelcome back, madam!!! I did enjoy talking with you the other day!!!
ReplyDeleteRB, I hope Fr. Hemingway is OK.
ReplyDeleteOur house is not even beat up. A neighbor's tree fell on our fence, but it's patched up now so the dog doesn't get out.
You're all so very kind.
Anonymous is moi.
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