Beryl 1-Dragons 0
July 8 a new, and extremely rude guest came barreling up the Gulf Coast, a storm by the name of Beryl. She was not invited, nor was she welcome. In fact, she crashed the party and left the place a mess.
I’d hoped to be able to share with up updates on how the new audiobook was nearly ready to go and what new projects were in the works. Instead, I was without power starting July 8, and for the next 6 days. We were under heat advisories the whole time and the humidity was sky high, so wasn’t great fun.
We had a generator but of course it refused to start, so there went plan A. The rest of the plans weren’t too great, all things considered. My son did get power pack sooner than we did, so he had his brother, with 5 kids under 7, over during that time. We visited, but went back and forth to our place since we had the dogs at our house to lessen the chaos over there. So it was…ah…interesting.
That’s the word for it, we’ll go with INTERESTING.
Now of course all the political battles are going on over why the power company hasn’t improved since hurricane Ike did this to us in 2008. That’s a story you don’t want to hear, so we’ll just walk away from that discussion.
On the upside, I’ve pulled out pen and paper and have over 125 handwritten pages to transcribe when we get back up and running again. One is a new World Wright short story, one is a new Duck Duck Dragon installment (coming later this month, I think), and the third is the first installment of an entirely new series. I’ll be starting notes on the next dragon book shortly, never fear. Now I have to transcribe all that! YIKES!
Now that the fridge-turned-out-of-control-science-fair-project is decontaminated, and the ants that have tried to take over the house are under control, I hope to be able to do that. Along with getting the proofing done on the NEW AUDIOBOOK!
I’m so behind…
It’s been a rough patch, for sure, but it could be much worse. None of us were hurt, none of our houses were damaged. The family pulled together, supported each other, contributed what we could when we could, and we made it through. There was a lot of tree damage and some nearby houses took severe damage–like uninhabitable damage. My dear friend had a tree punch through the roof into her bedroom then was injured with falling branches. She’s ok, but the house is, well, let’s go with inconvenient right now.
So in light of all that, even without power, cell service and most modern conveniences, I’m thankful.
Hope your summer is shaping up to be more fun than Beryl! I won’t suggest including her on your next party guest list!
I love your positivity and your writing. Interesting, and your poor friend inconvenienced. Made me chuckle while I really felt for you, your family and your friend. It is scary how dependent we are on electric and if electric cars become the norm… Which looks like happening in the UK. I hope your power company gets its act together. Wishing you a great summer.
I’m sure all your loyal fans are relieved to hear you and yours managed to weather the storm without damage or injury. (Some of the news footage looked positively apocalyptic!) As for the setback to your timetable, well, you have to take care of yourself first, so that you’re in good shape to keep crafting your marvelous stories. We’ll be delighted to read your work whenever you’re able to send it out into the world.
Grace,
I am so glad that you and your family survived Beryl mainly intact. It’s interesting how hurricanes affect neighborhoods and neighbors differently 🤔 In 1997, I was the neighbor that everyone had to help while their houses were relatively unscathed! It literally rained in my house! However, I learned how wonderful my neighbors were.
I laughed when you said that you said that the dogs were interesting. I had two dogs at that time in my life. If you are not used to dogs, it can be like trying to ride a horse for the first time!
I am glad that your friend is going to be OK even if her home didn’t fare so well. She is more important!
I look forward to reading your transcribed notes!
Grace,
Happy is how I describe my feeling that your and yours made it through Beryl safely, with houses intact! it’s sad to hear of your neighbor’s damage and that she was injured when the tree fell on her house, but doing ok right now.
Ah, electricity and the power companies who provide it. Enough said about that, because it might lead to a heated discussion about the situation that Texas government isn’t doing anything about. Yes, let us just walk away from that! I hope that y’all get the generator fixed before the next “interesting” weather situation hits!
So – now that you have “rediscovered” the joys of manual writing again, if you need any help transcribing your work, I’d volunteer to transcribe everything for you – (I’m just a few hours away, but missed even getting any of the side effects of an appreciable amount of rain) I offer just to help you out, you understand, not just to get a glimpse of any future wonderfulness of your writing – lol.
Seriously, I hope you have managed to get everything cleaned up, inside the house and out, the dogs and other creatures are all settled back to their normal routines, routed from spaces they are not wanted in, and you and yours have been able to get back to normal life.
Waiting patiently for the next reveal of your prodigious talent, and thanks for sharing the products of your imagination with the rest of us>
Well, here is central Texas, we got some rain, but not from Beryl!!! It came from the northwest, but not really enough. But that’s Texas for you. So sorry electricity is slow coming back online for you. My Bubba worked for TXU for years until he retired after Katrina recovery. Keep your chin and keep writing!!!
Strike Beryl from any future guest list: check
Check and recheck the generator for future outages: check [OK, pun intended]
Have plenty of paper and ink pens [favorites, of course] on hand in case of a power outage: check
Keep the dogs and dragons as happy as possible: check
All kidding aside, I think of you whenever something happens in Texas. I am so glad you and yours are well. My summer has been crazy. I have survived a family reunion. No one went to jail. That is always a good sign [family joke]. The oldest relative on that side of the family is 97. There are only two surviving in that generation. The rest of the time, I have been busy cooking for various activities and functions at church. We prepared and handed out food and water on several occasions. Our VBS [Vacation Bible School] just ended and I have my feet up. We fed the children and fixed something for the volunteers. Some of those children had never been inside a church.
I am glad all is well and approaching normal again, blessings to you and yours.