OUR ISAAC

The rains of Isaac

The rains came after we thought Hurricane Isaac was over.  As you probably know Isaac was a huge storm, as was the eye, which passed directly over us, after which the wind came up again.  Then followed the rains, and the rains, and the rains.

The aftermath of Isaac

We were fortunate that downed limbs were the worst of the damage we suffered from the hurricane, but Grandpère had a huge clean-up job facing him. As you see from the little pile of limbs in the rain picture, he had already started to pick up before the rain stopped him. My son came later and was a big help to GP. You may wonder why I didn't help. I have a bad back. I know that's the common excuse lazy people use for not working, but, in my case, the excuse happens to be true. I'd have lasted about 10 minutes and paid for the short effort for a long time thereafter.

Piles of limbs waiting to be picked up

The city has not yet got around to picking up the piles of limbs along the curb.  One day...

Where the crepe myrtles were

Apropos of nothing to do with Isaac, GP cut down two crepe myrtle trees which were planted directly over the sewer line, whose roots growing into the pipe had probably caused our plumbing problem last year. The plumbers told us the trees should go, and, at first, Grandpère would not hear of taking down the trees, but he finally came around, and he and a neighbor cut them down last week.  The trees were not flourishing because their roots were blocked by the pipe, so they were no great loss.  The space along the driveway has a clean look now which I rather like.  The next step is to get a plumber with a camera to go in and examine the inside of the pipe to see if it is compromised, which it probably is, so we may be looking at a large repair bill.

This morning the weather was gorgeous...a delightful 65°F.  The day is still fine, but the temperature is already up to 81°F.  Still it was lovely to feel, if only briefly, a touch of fall in the air.

Tail end of a gorgeous sunset

The photo of the sunset was taken before Isaac. I was walking during the high point of the breathtaking beauty of the sunset, but I had no camera with me. By the time I reached home the sun had nearly set, so the photo above was the best I could do. I should carry my camera on my walk.

ISAAC IS STILL WITH US

I thought Isaac was past us, but apparently we were in a kind of lull, and now the wind and rain is back, but not as strong as previously.  My internet connection is so slow that any website with pictures loads at a snail's pace, and I can't get to all the information I want.  I finally reached Wunderground with the satellite picture shown above.

ISAAC NOW CATEGORY 1 HURRICANE

Isaac, who is no gentleman, is now a Category 1 hurricane, with winds predicted at 75 mph and rainfall over a long period as it comes near or passes over us.  What can I say?  I'm not looking forward to Isaac's arrival, but I've been through worse.  Four-letter words come to mind, but I won't inflict the words on my readers in my post, as mine is a family-oriented blog.

Image from WunderMap.

UPDATE:  Before dark, I took my dog, Diana, for a half mile walk, with the thought in mind that the weather will get worse later.  I usually walk her late, because she's an older dog and sometimes has problems with incontinence, and exercise is the best medicine.  A blustery wind blew, with occasional stronger gusts, along with short periods of relative calm.  I wore my plastic parka for protection against the light rain, because an umbrella would have been of no use.  So far, we still have electric power, but who knows for how long?

UPDATE 2: We're fine. The weather is still blustery and rainy. We have power at this time, but periodically it goes off. Internet service on my laptop is slow, very slow. No TV or internet for the desktop. Tom and I slept last night, so we don't know what the worst of the hurricane was like. No large limbs fell from our trees, just a lot of small limbs to be cleaned up.

Thanks for your prayers and concern.  We are very grateful.  Love.