Sometimes I scare myself . . .

I've gotten way more done than I could possibly expect and it's just 11am. Whoa! Time to slow down. Up at six; breakfast at 6:30; at the park walking and taking pictures while P&D's Pop was flying; read one and a half sections of the Advocate; spoke with my older brother who had spent a week at his cottage which is wonderful news as it means they are well and the cottage is finally ready for full time use with sewers and water newly completed; sent P&D's Pop off to visit Gil; baked some Saltine and Toffee Cookies and viola I have even completed my stretches and my extra special stretches before I sat down at the table to write  this crazy blog. Hell, I impress myself.

The weather is gorgeous - it's still mightily hot but a bit drier than it has been all summer so far. I find it pleasant to sit on the back porch to read and watch the hummingbirds fight over the two feeders. I imagine we will get more birds heading to us from the North as they begin to migrate. Not sure what Fall will bring to us but I'm looking forward to going out and getting a few more plants to brighten up the porches. What I do find amazing is that the huge multi-plant pot
my sister-in-law bought for us when we moved here in February is still going strong! I had to replace one of the plants because it just plain wore out but the replacements are doing great. Time to test the cookies and go back outside to reading and relaxing.

Quote:  A word or a nod from the good, has more weight than the eloquent speeches of others.   ___Plutarch

Got a lot done already . . .

The stuff the flood water pushed into and over the fences at one of the dog parks.

Yesterday we scooted to South Park; we were the only ones there. It's eery being alone in a park where people are usually taking their morning constitutionals, walking their dogs, mowing, exercising with their friends in one of the covered areas or flying model planes. Even the birds and animals were scarce. The park must have had about four feet of water rush through it and although the river water  is now gone the devastation to the homes, schools and businesses around the park is enormous. I believe many people who lived in trailer parks may have to totally scrap their homes.

On a better note P&D's Pop and I went to St. Francisville for breakfast this morning. It is a 45 mile ride but Birdman Café and Books is superior. Grampa had an omelet made with everything fresh  you can imagine - I watched the chef as he prepared the fillings and cooked it to perfection! I had a sweet potato Belgian waffle with butter and cane syrup that was perfect - just the right amount of crisp. I spoke with the chef and told him it was the perfect waffle; he was beaming! Wish they were not so far away. After we got home I spent the morning finishing up what I tried to accomplish yesterday. There are three items we ordered from Amazon on August 11, the day the rains started and brought the flooding to our town and the surrounding areas, which have never arrived. I was finally able to contact UPS on line about one item and between UPS and the Amazon seller we were able to close out the original order, get a refund and reorder the battery for Grampa's phone. But . . . the two items scheduled to get here through the US Postal Service were very difficult to track down online either through the post office or Amazon. I filled out the paperwork on line for both entities but it always came back not quite right! So I fished around long enough to get a phone number to call for the USPS and I waited 22 minutes for their call back but the lady got me squared away. They have no idea where the packages are but it seems they were delivered to the Denham Springs Post Office on the 12th of August which would mean they were in the post office when it flooded. The lady gave me the inquiry number to give to Amazon to show that we had done due diligence! Then I miraculously found a number for Amazon and they called me back immediately! The young oriental man on the other end of the line was more than patient and gracious as he solved my problem. We now have replacements for the items that were most likely flooded in the post office. When he asked if there was anything else he could do to help me I said it would be nice if I could easily find the telephone number to call Amazon if I ever need their help again! He gave me a number that I can call whenever I need help! Yay, things are looking up!

I worked myself to the bone yesterday cleaning, dusting, vacuuming, scrubbing bathrooms, washing bedding, clothes and trimming the lawn. Today I shall relax.
Grampa just came in as I was finishing up and I mentioned I could use an alcoholic beverage to help with the relax part of the previous sentence.  He said I had to wait until Thursday when Walk Ons has its grand reopening.  Yay.  I shall do that.

Quote:  We may outrun by violent swiftness that which we run at, and lose by overrunning.   __Shakespeare

I am a fortunate one . . .

A barge that can't be filled too much as the water isn't too high here on the banks of the Mighty Mississippi in Vidalia, LA

We just returned from breakfast at McD's in Denham Springs one of the few stores that was not inundated. We circled home by South Park and Wax Road. My God, my heart seizes up and tears come unbidden when I see the destruction. It is overwhelming and I keep saying to myself, "And we weren't even touched by this devastation and I become emotional." P&D's Pop and I along with our son's family are unscathed along with the new friends we've made but the people surrounding us have been destroyed. They are stalwarts in the face of this enormous calamity but I can only imagine that if I am depressed by what I see whenever we go out by the thousands of families who have nothing but wet, stinking, rotting garbage in front of their once comfortable homes I'm not sure I could manage my life as they must. Their lives can't and may never again get into a routine comfortable pattern for they have been caught by nature and government in this hell. If the hell were fire and brimstone that cleaned the face of  Louisiana it would be welcomed as it is there is nothing but putrefaction and government regulation. Money does not flow into the hands of families desperate to clean up and move on with their lives. The red tape to get anything at all done is regulated to the nth degree and little is happening to clean up the rotten in the state of Louisiana. Good people are languishing  and I wouldn't  blame them if they pity themselves as government regulations and other forms of financial help are a matter of waiting in lines or online to fill out forms and hope that someone somewhere really does know how to get help to the people as they scrub themselves and their now meager possessions trying to get their lives back together. I cannot see how this can be done quickly because it is so widespread and bureaucracy is a set back every step of the way. I am rambling again as I am overcome by the magnitude of the desolation surrounding us. So I'll move on to a pleasant subject.

A friend who used to kidnap me from our son's home over the past few years when we were visiting from Connecticut will upon occasion still call me and we go off in search of old places and things. We ended up in Vidalia, Louisiana looking across the Mississippi River at a house on a cliff perched above Old Man River in Natchez, Mississippi. She asked if I would be okay with going to find the place and seeing if we could bum around it or at least peak in. In all the years my friend Angie and I hung out together Angie would always enlist me in her wild quests and we always had a blast - sometimes we did foolish stuff but we always laughed and had a great time. Friday was one of those days. A... and I are of different generations but she is very interesting as she tells me about her life growing up in a very small Texas town where her parents lived by their wits and what they could put on the table. She didn't know you could buy meat in a store until she was almost 16. Her Mom and Dad used to grow cotton, hunt, farm, butcher to feed and clothe their family. She pointed out the cotton fields as we drove North. I hope I'll get a chance to see them in bloom on LA 61 which goes into Mississippi. Cotton fields on both sides of the road! Must remind myself to keep track of the harvest. I think even P&D's Pop would take me for a ride to see the white fields. I didn't know that picking cotton by hand can cut your fingers to shreds. I knew it was back breaking work but not that it could tear your hands up. Thank God for the cotton gin. Wow, I have so much learning to do and I just put it off. It's time I go back and study US history for a start. I know so little and what I learned was minuscule. We shall get together again at some point in time after she does what she hates doing - doctoring!  A... reminds me of myself when I was so pooped and miserable I couldn't get out of my own way and was so grouchy I wanted to crawl into a hole. It took a nurse practitioner with lots of experience with women to listen to me and put me on synthroid even before she got the blood work back! I've been on somewhat increasing doses through the years and it is almost a wonder drug! Crazy.

Took a break to go to Mass while P&D's Pop is at the flying field at Bayou Park in Zachary. Immaculate Conception Parish continues to amaze me. Even though the property was flooded they have been working hard and a group from New Orleans has set up an outdoor kitchen in the parking lot to feed all who come to eat. They even send out food  and will continue to do so for as long as necessary which from the looks of our streets will be a very long time. The church has been emptied and the floors cleaned from the sludge left by the flooding. They are going to try to dry it out so they don't have to cut into the walls but that will take quite a while. They only have Mass in the church on Sunday's the rest of the week it is in a small chapel in their newest building which was built high and dry a few years ago. The rectory and early learning center were destroyed and have been gutted. As soon as they can dry out enough of what's left they will start to rebuild. Thank goodness the newest building on campus was built up high. The priests are sleeping on mattresses on the third floor and keeping up with their jobs getting help to all in need. That's a huge job. The phones are now working and plans have been made to start some of the religious ed classes. The Early Learning Center must be rebuilt before classes can start so I think it may be a month or so until I get back to help out. I really can't do any physical work but I am looking forward to the kids and teachers. I'm always surprised about how much I miss kids!

Quote:  The wise carry their knowledge, as they do their watches, not for display, but for their own use.
     I envy no man that knows more than myself, but pity them that know less.    ____Sir T. Browne

Fancy meeting you here . . .

Crazy skies

Had to go to Walker today to mail a package to my kid brother because the post office in Denham Springs is not a functional building at this time. The Walker post office is on 190 aka Florida a very important road into and out of Baton Rouge. The Comite  River is a tributary of the Amite and they meet on Florida in Denham Springs so much of Florida was flooded with the highest water ever seen in these parts but the area from Juban to Walker wasn't as bad as the rest. Anyhow that's my thinking on the subject. When I gave the small package to the post mistress and she saw Preston, CT she almost had apoplexy! She and her husband were transferred from Preston by the railroad. She doesn't like it here but was shocked that I knew exactly where she had lived in Connecticut. She and her husband owned  the property with the extremely tall mailbox on the road to my brother's house. She told me how she missed Buttonwoods, the ice cream and the sunflowers. I believe that road is 165 not far from my cousin's former monument business. Well, I guess I will win the bet that my brother wouldn't make with me! I told him I'd get this package to him before he emailed photos of our Connecticut visit at the end on July. I win;  that's all that matters!

A few. restaurants have opened near Bass Pro, the Swamp Box and P-Beau's. Maybe I can talk P&D's Pop into a late lunch early supper at P- Beau's. We should be doing all we can to get these businesses back on track! I don't think Cavender's had any flooding and the Sam's Club is also okay. They are allowing any one to shop there even if they are not members. I also believe that Bass Pro is open and may not have had too much damage. 

Gotta go. Just got invited to lunch at P-Beau's! Yay!

We're back. P-Beau's didn't get water damage and neither did a few other businesses on the same side of the street but they lost power so all of their food was bad. It seems that Bass Pro had water up to their doors but it didn't get inside. Sam's Club and Cavender's also lucked out. Our waiter is from Watson and had over 7 ' of water in his home. He's thankful that everyone is pulling together and was asbright and charming as could be. He would not have spoken about his personal trials if we had not asked about the flooding at the restaurant and how he was doing. Incredible people who have lived here all their lives and have never seen this devastation. We'll be going back to local restaurants as they reopen to help out. Most people do not have the luxury to do that. We do.

Well my one Margarita lunch makes me lazy so I'll stop here.

Quote:  Adversity's sweet milk, philosophy.  ____Shakespeare

Impressive . . .

Not the best photo - but these buggers don't stay still.  Range wars on going!

The worst looking plants in the neighborhood but I'll figure out how to care for them eventually!

I received a robo call yesterday from the cardiologist's office in Zachary making sure I was okay and saying that if I needed them to press 2 on the phone. I pressed 1 to say I was fine. They were checking to make sure their patients were able to get their meds and whatever other medical services they needed. That's another,"Wow!"  My primary care giver, Mandy, is also up and running in a dry part of Denham Springs not far from the intersection of 16 and 64. I will stop there Wednesday to pick up the papers for blood work and bring it with me to Zachary at the end of the month. I only need a regular checkup but I'm still impressed by what's available for us in this mess.

We went to Walker this morning to check out the park and naturally it is not ready for flying! You can go fishing but just down the street the road is completely blocked. It looks as if the roadway washed out. We took the highway there and back and did not stop anywhere as we need nothing. But the streams of cars going to the Walmart and Stine's were incredible. The parking lots were full. It looked as if both the CVS and Walgreens were open. The flooding seems to have been sporadic on the Main Street with some stores' workers carrying their damaged and gutted internals to the side of the road and other stores were open. The Waffle House was jammed packed as were the McDonald's and Burger King.  Thank goodness that a few businesses survived so people can get get to work on rebuilding and eating to keep up their energy for what they must endure. I'm afraid there is absolutely nothing that has survived in Denham Springs. I can't imagine when any of the stores will be able to open again or if they will reopen. The Cracker Barrel on Juban and the Dollar General are the only stores we have seen open for business and the lines are still crazy and may be for weeks to come.

Found out that my plants loved all of the rain so from now on I shall keep them well watered. They are finally starting to look gorgeous, at least in comparison to what they used to look like! I still want to get a few more pots but I shall wait until the chaos here slackens. Will be watching the USA Women's basketball team defeat Spain in Rio this afternoon! Now I must go out and feed my plants!

Quote:  It is one of my favorite thoughts, that God manifests himself to mankind in all wise, good, humble, generous, great and magnanimous men.   ___Lavater

On an odd note . . .

Ferrying supplies into our dry neighborhood and then they'll be sent to the shelters.

I've been getting a rather painful spot on my right side just under the rib cage and I was getting a little nervous about it. It would subside after a few days and then I'd get it again. Well I have now figured out how I get this pain in the side. We have a very deep new washing machine with no tall center agitator so I have to reach in down to the very bottom to pick up the little socks etc and voilà that is how I keep bruising myself. Yup, self inflicted but easily remedied - I will now stand on tippy-tippy toes  and be less aggressive so I don't fall into the drum. Of course I can ask P&D's Pop to help but he's usually out and about somewhere and being the get-it-done-tout-de-suite-person that I am I will probably continue to remove the clothes from the washer but will be more careful - like use a small pillow to cushion my side and hope I don't fall in head first.

As I was walking last evening I stopped and spoke with the man who is staying with his son across the circle. He had the most beautiful dog. a Blue Tick, Bozo aka Bocephus and Bocephus is very unhappy and wants to go home. He's not used to a kennel or having to share a house with other dogs but there is no home left. Nolan's Dad and Mother were evacuated by boat Saturday and were only given 30 minutes notice. No one in weather services or government had given warning about this monster flood. Within 15 minutes Nolan's Dad and Mother were up to their waists and were just able to manage to get Bozo aka Bocephus and two changes of clothes before they got out to the boat. At that time the Dad had to stretch his neck out because the water was already up to his chin and he was able to take Bozo with him. He tried to get his wife's cat, her baby, but the cat was wild with fear and he couldn't save her. He told me he's never felt so helpless in his entire life and he is an Army veteran. I believe he and his wife are in their sixties. He has lived in his home for over 40 years and has never been flooded out. They have no flood insurance because this was never supposed to happen. It seems that FEMA will allow each homeowner about $33,000 to clean up but I can't see that that will even come close to the cost of the destruction of people's homes. Nolan's Dad told me that they went yesterday to save what they could but there wasn't even enough worth saving to fill the back of a small truck. They are hunters, sportsmen as are all natives of Louisiana and his freezer is full of rotten meat. He said the smell was overpowering. The beautiful cat was dead and other than their hunting and fishing gear there was nothing to save. This is only one story. People who are staying across the circle to the right of us have lost their trailer, three cats, their Harley and her car. They had just bought the property near their trailer and were preparing to fix up the house and move in. They have little they were able to take with them as the waters rose so fast that they also walked out to be rescued in chest deep water. Both of these stories happened in opposite directions from our home. This is just a tiny slice of what is happening in Denham Springs. There are more stories but I cry as write them down so I will stop writing. I've held hands and hugged many people who are stunned as they walk our safe, dry subdivision. We have not gone out yet to get groceries or meds but Thursday, since the main highways are now open we will wend our way to a safe area north of us in Mississippi to shop and go to CVS. CVS there has managed to get a prescription I need even though it's too early to fill but the druggist got an override from our insurance. People are wonderful and we remain physically untouched by Nature's Terror. Not sure we can blame Nature as man has put people, businesses and companies in her way. This entire area is floodplain except for a few modest spots and man/government, is now paying the price of his foolishness.

Quote:  In nature things move violently to their place and calmly in their place. __Bacon

Thankful . . .

At the end of our street. People have been rescued and brought here from their flooded home by boat.

The couple that live here were flooded out of their home in New Orleans in 2005 during Hurricane Katrina.  Wally runs in our neighborhood every morning.  He is now with his children. Hope their property can be saved. This is directly across from the end of our road, Ashland Bend Drive on Brown Road.

Almost afraid to write. The devastating flooding of the Amite River into Denham Springs over the last three days has destroyed the lives, properties and businesses of most of the people here. We have been so fortunate to live on an island of dry land that has so far withheld the waters. We are being careful not to use much water so we don't have drainage problems but other than that you would never know that anything major is going on all around us.

We walked our 37 home neighborhood this morning and everyone is fine but there are many more people and animals that have been forced to seek shelter with our neighbors. We've met a lot of people we had never seen before because they were at work or camping but everyone is home today taking in their families and friends who have lost everything in the flood. We are all locked into our subdivision because of the muddy, filthy waters surrounding us. We are fortunate that the sun is out and there is a nice breeze. We can only hope and pray that the worst is behind us and that in a few days we will be able to get out and about. I have no idea where we would even want to go because everywhere within about a 50 miles radius has been flooded but I'm hoping to get to Frank's on Airline in Prairieville just to be prove that we can all get back to some semblance of order. We have our son's puppy staying with us as they were camping in northern Louisiana during the flooding here in the south. Daytona will stay with us for about another week as we can't get her home yet because of the closed roads and when they are cleared for travel her folks will be off camping and fishing again! It is really our pleasure to keep this sweet little puppy even if she gets upset with me sometimes!

Quote:  Who will not give some portion of his ease, his blood, his wealth, for others' good, is a poor, frozen churl. ___ Joanna Baillie

Still grouchy but this letter of Ma's is sprightly and bright so I'll copy it from the original handwritten letter to one of her younger sisters written perhaps around 1937 or so . . .

Hello little one,
It seems ages since I've written to you.  It is too. Do you remember whether I promised you snapshots of the fish pool, 'Dicky cat' and Lucky's trained mosquito or was it merely a possibility of taking said snapshots and sending same to you?  Well, be it as it may, the mosquito has died a well-earned, though inglorious death, the cat is too fat and lazy to even pose for the camera, 'Dicky' has been given to Louis because he destroyed and killed everything in our prized fish-pool! Papa, you recall, was gone one month (with Jenny) and during the day Annette, who cared for Dicky, let him loose several hours daily.  Dicky developed a particular yen for bathing and this craze he indulged to his heart's content in our fish pool.  The cat-o-nines, pickerel plants, rice plants, floating elodea, pond lilies, etc, were no match for Dicky's vigorous splashings and his "I'm-out, you're-in-game" with Gertrude Bernard's big dog "Stubby." Next spring we'll have to start all over again and believe me we'll make darn sure there are no dogs around to mess it.

What with teaching besides all your studies, you certainly are one busy youngster. Try and not overdo it, old top, remember you are still in your 'teens.' Lucky and I have been working on the average about seventy hours a week on those blooming town reports.  The money was quite welcomed but it is much too much for me and last weekend I was compelled to lay low.  We even worked Sundays!  Mrs. Burgess would have passed out had she known! You know, sis, Papa got thirty bushels of potatoes to one bushel of seeding.  One potato (we sent to Mrs. O...) weighed one pound, ten ounces and another, one pound, nine ounces and I. . . writes that they were perfectly sound and not hollow.  Is Pa strutting around.  All the other gardeners around complain of poor crops. Papa had lovely tomatoes, delicious corn (we sent ten dozen ears to Mrs. O...) and his flowers were the envy of the neighborhood. Boy, he's O.K., no wonder Jenny wanted to take him to Chicago with her.

Listening to some John McDermott . . .

Loggerhead shrike - note his beak

Not sure what will come off  the tips of my fingers today. Haven't been in the mood to write lately but I've forced myself this morning. Went for our usual IHOP  breakfast and Linsey our  30ish  Japanese American Cajun waited on us. She always makes us smile. I know it isn't polite to point out someone's ethnicity but I think it's our mixed up American selves that make us wonderful. I enjoy going to church here because the congregation is a slice of the melting pot and it seems to me our society no longer wants a melting pot. Society wants to separate the peoples that infuse this great land with character and bright, good, hard living into stereotypical blasé, indifferent know nothings who only know how to disparage those who dare to be individuals with their unique ways of dealing with God's earth, its animals, physical nature and peoples. I'm sick and tired of not feeling as if I can just accept a person based on how that person presents himself to me in whatever capacity I meet him. Needless to say I am also speaking of women. I still believe that when I write man I'm including woman because I'm an old fashioned lady who's sick of having to be careful of how I use words so I don't offend anyone. I'm at the point that if someone is offended by my notions of man I will choose not to deal with that person. I'm tired of hearing that this race is superior to that race; men are superior to women; women are superior to men; Yale is superior to UCONN; cats are superior to dogs; Loggerhead Shrikes are nasty, disgusting birds because they capture live prey just like eagles and hawks but they don't fit the accepted role of a small, bug or seed eating bird. Yep, I've decided to forget all of the misery that is portrayed in the media and just go along with my own up and down life. I'll just enjoy what I have and pay no heed to the doomsday scenarios that are always in the forecast. Still looking for the silver lining.

Well there now.  There's more pent up emotion in me but that'll do for now!

Quote:   True philosophy is that which makes us to ourselves and to all about us, better; and at the same time, more content, patient, calm and more ready for all decent and pure enjoyment.    ___Lavater

It's been a while . . .

Beautiful planes

Will be leaving soon to pick up some meds at CVS and then continue on to Big Kiddo's home to get youngest puppy. She'll just stay with us until this evening as there will be no one at her home full time for a couple more days. Big Kiddo will stop for supper and pick up the pupster. We've been home since noon Sunday and as wonderful as it was to be with Middle Kiddo and her family it is always nice to be home. Looking forward to the day when she has to come to Louisiana for her job with Cox Automotive. Perhaps she'll be able to bring our Kiddo with her on the flights and he'll be able to stay with us. Now that would be peachy keen!

It was a perfect stay in Connecticut this past week. I was really excited and very happy to see my brothers and sisters and P&D's Pop's brothers and sisters. I really couldn't ask for more from a vacation. We saw everyone we needed to see so I don't feel as if I missed anyone. There are still many friends we did not have time to put in the schedule as I wanted to spend all the time I could with Middle Child and her Kiddo. That was the ultimate best part of the trip. They have a great property and will always have things to do outside if they want exercise! There's even an apple tree. Wish I knew how to trim it so that the apples would be worthwhile picking. Perhaps with time son-in-law will be able to get some help to figure it out. I'm wondering if the little dried up brook on the edge of their property will ever have some fish in it after the winter snows and spring rains? That would be such a lot fun. It would be a good job to make a nice path along the brook just to hear it gurgle. But I am way ahead of myself as it seems I'm already planning for next year's visit. I may go on my own because P&D's Pop feels much better when in our home here in the South. It very hard to be gone when you have to leave behind the life you love best - building planes, flying planes, reading about cars and spending time helping out with the grand puppy while Big Kiddo and wifey go off camping and fishing, enjoying the calm on weekends after the chaos and stress of weekly meetings and unraveling the problems that always crop up in business of any kind. It's so good to see them enjoying some solitude. Solitude can be a blessing. I'm getting used to it more and more as I grow up and try to realize how much peace there is in silence and deep restful respiration!

Will have to try to get back into taking some photos and walking at the parks but it may take a while. The heat is getting pretty dastardly; I walked after eight last night because there was no sun shining directly on me! I may never get used to the brightness and angle of the sun here so my excellent pair of super expensive glasses are helpful although if I walk in the late evening, right with the sunset I can actually stroll around without a hat or glasses. It'll still be in the high 80's but I don't walk fast, that's for sure. We have a homeowners meeting at 7:30 tonight. I think the big thing on the agenda is putting up a sign so people will know the name of our subdivision! We think that's foolish but it seems most everyone wants a sign! I think that's a North/South divide! We'll see what happens. We pretty much just listen as we are the newest newbies and we're from Yankee Land!

Quote:  As there is much beast and some devil in man, so is there some angel and some God in him.  The beast and the devil may be conquered, but in this life never destroyed.   ___Coleridge