Rain pelts my window in a torrent of sound, my room flashes and dims with the lightening. I lay curled against a pillow while the rumble of thunder shakes the house around me like a freight train.
Welcome to Texas.
Hurricane Harvey arrived last night South of us, hitting Corpus and the surrounding area. My prayers go out to all those folks hard hit. And those same prayers follow those of us left in the residual fall out. Being as this is my first full fledge hurricane, I probably didn’t prepare like I should have. Listening to the locals express little concern and not to worry about it too much, my phone’s constant tornado warnings are mocking me as I lay in the dark listening to the storm rage outside. I should have picked up ice just in case, but by the time I’d thought about it the stores were sold out. Next time… let’s hope next time is very far in the future.
This new house is being tested. At least we will know how well it was built when it’s all said and done. After the tornado warnings, my biggest concern is the flash floods. There goes my phone again, only this time it’s a flash flood warning. I’m not in a flood area, per say. The neighborhood just sits in the middle of a square of designed drainage areas that just happens to flood the roads. Since I’ve lived here a whopping six weeks, my neighborhood, which I fondly refer to as Armageddon, has been surrounded by water on all four sides, leaving us cut off from going anywhere for a day. I imagine we’re in for the same, but maybe for a few more days.
I did stock up on groceries and water. I figure I’ll bake through the storm and as long as power and Netflix holds out we will have a movie marathon or something like that. Maybe I’ll even get back to writing. This move has shaken me up a bit. It’s small things like hurricanes and big things like self adjusting to a new world of heat, crazy drivers and a crush of meanness that has zapped me, leaving me with little energy to do much except drag myself through the days.
But I’m learning to navigate. I’m finding ways around the discomfort. It helps that I’m in my new home, a sanctuary of calm that centers me from the outside crazy. I’ve always been this way though, I have an insatiable need to have my home life settled and sorted, before I’m much good for anything else. And it’s almost there. Almost.
Send a few prayers to Texas if you have a mind to. There’s a whole lot of people that needs them about now.
Cheers!
💕