...and if Isaac, which the experts say will soon be a hurricane, comes our way, then it's the hurricane, loss of power, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. After the last hurricane struck in our area, I vowed that the next scare would send me flying somewhere out of reach. But the uncertainly is seductive in its own way, as I'm drawn to think, "Well, maybe I'll leave for nothing if the storm lands somewhere else." So. Here I am in sunny Thibodaux today. We have a two-story house and a boat, so we will not be in danger of drowning.
Just look at the spread in the computer models in the illustration above. The possible landfall for Isaac lies anywhere from the Louisiana/Mississippi border to the Louisiana/Texas border and all places in between. Obviously, the places in between are all in Louisiana, including my place. Sooo...we prepare, and we wait.
Image from Wunderground, which, to my sorrow, was sold to The Weather Channel.
I don't have words for your vigil --please know you are in my prayers.
ReplyDeleteOur local Red Cross will be preparing for the possibilities of shelter ops all over the place. Those computer models are crazy. They make storms look as if they could land everywhere from the south of France to Malibu. It is only in the last few hours that they really mean anything. One thing I have learned at Red Cross is err on the side of caution. Make your move while it is sunny and bright and the roads are not clogged.
ReplyDeleteRo Ford
(Boo Cat)
PS You and your friends and family are in my prayers.
Still praying for you... take care. It is a hideous vigil.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks, Lee. I'm praying for a quick healing for you from your surgery.
DeleteJune, you and yours are in my prayers. I live in the Tampa Bay area and we just weathered the waiting game. Schools were closed today but the sun is shining and we got very little rain and hardly any wind. I've lived through many hurricanes here and it's never anything but serious worry. I'm glad we dodged a bullet this time and hope you (and everyone along the southern coast) does the same. May Isaac weaken and peter out. . . .
ReplyDeleteThanks Brian. You know what it's like. Schools are closed here, too, for those who want to leave. Our grandson is with us today, since his dad had to go to work. The schools will reopen on Thursday, depending on where Isaac lands.
DeleteI'm glad the Tampa area weathered the storm well. God decided not to smite the Republicans, which is a good thing, because the smiting would have affected a lot of good people. ;-)
Thanks margaret.
ReplyDeleteRo, there are no shelters in Louisiana south of I-10. The Red Cross and the Salvation Army will not staff the shelters because of the danger of flooding. I can't blame them. The authorities want people to leave.
One reason I don't leave is that I have a horror of being stuck in traffic during the hurricane.
Well Mimi I have no meteorological expertise, but no matter which prediction you go by, Louisiana is sure to get a big soaking. Now, right now this minute, is the time to leave. Otherwise, be sure you have plenty of candles, batteries, sterno, ice - and fill the bathtubs!
ReplyDeleteRuss, we're not leaving. We've stayed through worse hurricanes than Isaac, and we have not flooded out...not even with Andrew which hung out motionless in the Gulf pushing water inland for quite a while. We have a generator which will keep the freezer, refrigerator, cell phones, and a few lights going. We have lots of bottled drinking water, and we will fill bathtubs just in case, though we have never lost water. We have lanterns, flash lights, and working shutters on the windows. We may be uncomfortable, but we will be OK.
DeleteI hear you and I understand, I've been through some hurricanes myself. If you're not on the water's edge and have a sturdy house, you will probably do all right. And I never had a generator to fall back on, that's great. Good luck and God bless.
DeleteRuss, I hope our house is sturdy, and we are not in the coastal flood zone. The generator will not do much more than keep our refrigerator and and freezer running, give us a few lights, and keep our phones charged, but that's sufficient to get by. Oh, yes and charge the battery on my laptop.
DeleteI second Russ Manley's comments.
ReplyDeleteThinking of you and everyone in Isaac's path up here in Brooklyn.
Thank you, Counterlight. It's comforting to know so many people care. We are as ready as we can be.
DeleteJune: I've followed you and your wonderful blog for a long time, and I don't think I've every commented. But I finally looked at the map to see where Thibodaux is in Louisiana. As a former resident of the Texas upper Gulf Coast (Port Arthur), I have three words for you: Get. Out. Now. If you stay you will undoubtedly have a long period of heavy rain, and possible flooding. Yes you can stay upstairs, but you run severe risk.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Eleanor. We've been through hurricanes before with wind and lots of rain, and we know the possibilities and risks, but we've decided to stay this time. For the last hurricane, we left and went to our farm northwest of Baton Rouge, and the storm followed us. The eye passed over, and we lost power and even water for a period. We would have done better to stay in Thibodaux. As I said in an earlier comment, we may be uncomfortable, but we will be OK.
DeleteI appreciate very much your kind words about my blog.
My children and I had quite a few jokes last week about who would be whipping up more wind in Tampa--the Republicans or Isaac. I am glad that my daughter is OK right now but there are a couple more storms forming out there. I check the National Hurricane tracker sight every day between April and November.
ReplyDeleteWhatever you decide prayers and good wishes will be ascending for you and your family and your pets.
One should always preview. That should be site not sight. Sorry
ReplyDeleteThinking of/praying for you, and everyone in Isaac's path.
ReplyDeleteMany many thoughts and prayers heading your way. You sound as tho u r as prepared as anyone can be. If your generator allows, please let us know that u r o.k. when the worst is over.
ReplyDeletenij
Many many thoughts and prayers heading your way. You sound as tho u r as prepared as anyone can be. If your generator allows, please let us know that u r o.k. when the worst is over.
ReplyDeletenij
Thank you, thank you all. I will try my very best to do a daily update.
ReplyDeleteYake care - keep your head down, and hold on to your underwear! Keeping you in mind and prayer.
ReplyDeleteYake care???????? Damn these fat fingers!
ReplyDeleteTAKE care.
Prat.
:)
Fat fingers are a bitch, aren't they? I never noticed the fatness of your fingers when we met.
DeleteNo chance of losing my underwear...at least I don't think so.
To paraphrase my favorite character, Pam, the Bar Manager of Fangtasia on True Blood (Located, of course, in Bon Temps, LA): "Keep your head down, your tits up and the bourbon flowing". (Pam would say, "True Blood" flowing but ain't none of us need any of that.)
ReplyDeleteGotcha covered in prayer.
All right! Got that, Elizabeth. Thanks for the prayers.
Deletebe prepared for a long storm. Here in Southeast Florida we started feeling the first rain bands on Saturday night, and squalls and tropical storm force gusts kept on through this afternoon, and there's more, albeit weaker, rain and wind in the forecast for tomorrow. Some places around here got a foot of rain or more, and almost everyone got at least six inches of rain in the last 24 hours. In fact, in terms of rain and wind, today was worse than yesterday, and we were really just on the easternmost side of the storm.
ReplyDeleteAnd to add to my "fun", I buried my mother Sunday morning, despite Isaac. She passed away early Saturday morning.
BTW, about the violin in your post from yesterday--I had a very similar one, German made Stradivarius and all, although it was secondhand, so I don't know if it came from Sears originally, when I took violin lessons as a kid, back in the '60s. I don't want to say I played the violin, however, since that would imply I actually produced something recognizable as music....
Stay safe!
kishnevi, I'm so sorry about your mother. My sympathy to you and to all who love her. A burial on a rainy day is sad, indeed.
DeleteRains such as those you describe are not that unusual around here, but the wind... I expect we will have much more wind than we want.
Wards sold the violins, too, and perhaps other outlets. Since the instruments sold at such low prices, the workers in the factories must have earned very small wages.
Don't forget the inflation factor. Measuringworth.com tells me $15 in 1913 is equivalent to about $350 today. Which as I see from Googling around, will get you a decent student violin - which I imagine is what the Sears and Wards models were mainly used for too.
ReplyDeleteAnd I don't know about Czechoslovakia, but Germany had a very advanced social security scheme starting from the time of Bismarck - even better than Obamacare! So they were probably very happy to have those nice jobs making pretty violins at the Sears factory.
No doubt you're right about the inflation factor, Russ. The factories were not owned by Sears. Sears imported their products. I was guessing about the wages.
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