yIKEs: It's Here!

The bands of Hurricane Ike are starting to approach Houston. Today started with sunshine and clear skies. To our dismay, the building crews down the street had left hefty piles of construction debris as a little present for the neighbors. Just Wednesday, they had dump trucks and mini-tractor-picker-upper-things out there picking up boards and pipes and other messy piles. At that time, Ike wasn't a guaranteed visitor, but I thought how nice it was for them to think ahead. Little did I know that they were just clearing those piles to mount them up again in the next 24 hours...and then LEAVE THEM. I love Morrison. The crew was there again this morning, but perhaps felt it unnecessary to PICK UP THEIR STUFF. Nails are still scattered EVERYWHERE. We were out there with a neighbor and the sales rep (I was shocked that he was there) cleaning up the projectile 2X4s and other junk that was left behind. I didn't think it would be such a pleasant storm memory to have one jetting through my front windows. Sigh. We got what we could get placed back into the homes under construction.
By about 5:00, the boys were behaving more like caged animals. And the dogs, well, the same--but maybe that is more likely to be expected. We decided to take a walk. We walked down the first empty street and Nick was tossing the ball to Charlie. Charlie stayed within the side barriers for the most part and thoroughly enjoyed his game of fetch. Michael thought it was pretty funny. We walked across to the other empty street, and then up to the playground that Michael calls lovingly "castle." The climbing and sliding and running around (even with a nasty busted lip from yesterday) was better than any form of Ritalin. The wind was picking up pretty well.
We hosed 'em down in the bath tub and Michael went off to dreamland shortly after his bottle. Nathan and Nick are playing Monopoly World right now. I am uninterested, perhaps my mind is preoccupied. Preparing for storms like this is not easy. We didn't board the windows. Maybe that would have been some consolation, but maybe closing everything in would be a little creepy too. We have a clear view to the north out our back windows over the neighborhood pond. I think I do like to see what's going on. Being a planner, I do not like feelings of vulnerability. It was, however, a nice excuse to clean up my house and catch up on some laundry and kitchen stuff. I just hope Ike has some mercy on us. My parents have such big trees. Andrew and Elizabeth aren't even in town. Nick's folks are hunkered down after helping prepare their neighbor.
This morning was so nice. There were more hummingbirds flying around than I had seen in any one day. Our bat trumpet plant sprouted the most beautiful pink and yellow bell flower. It's still holding on, despite the wind right now. We had another two caterpillars on the milkweed. Such little snippets of beauty, and at the same time, water was pounding and cresting the sea wall some 50 miles from here. My heart goes out to the people of Galveston and Tiki and the surrounding areas. It's really a shame. I think about my students and their families, and do hope that they all fare safely and securely.
Nathan claims that he won the Monopoly so far. I think we're going to settle in for the night.
Good night.