I have been through hail storms, electric storms, flash floods, wind storms, tidal waves, and even earthquakes.
None can compare to the experience of living through hurricane Ike.
When our family woke up the morning after the eye had crossed over, it looked like a bomb had exploded at our home.
When we were able to get out and investigate, the bomb had exploded in our entire neighborhood. As we ventured even further out, we realized the magnitude of hurricane Ike was devastating, and wide spread. The City came to a dead halt.
For those of you who remember Tom Hanks, stranded on an island in the movie *Cast Away*, you'll recall the basketball that had washed ashore and became his best friend, whom he lovingly called *Wilson*.
After the hurricane, and almost 12 days without power, our ice chest became our best friend, and life saver.
We pondered quite a bit on what life was like before electricity and modern conveniences as we know it now.
We learned that it only takes 10 days to form a habit, and that cowboy coffee, as I call it, taste way better than coffee brewed in the machine. For those of you who don't know about cowboy coffee, it's when you boil hot water in a kettle, pour in the coffee grounds, and wait for it to boil. You really get the full flavor, and taste of the oils in coffee.
I learned how treat two of my four dogs who became sick with vomiting during the power outage. I rubbed honey on their gums to keep them from getting hypoglycemia, while feeding 50% water and 50% pedialyte through a syringe to keep them from dehydration, and keeping electrolytes up, while fasting them for 24 hours. Thank GOD, I got them well, and back to eating without a Vet. Now that was an *ah ha* moment. Just to think, how much money I could've saved from vet bills. All of the many times my dogs have had bouts with the very same problem, has landed them in the hospital on IV fluids from dehydration, and low electrolytes, every single time.
I did not miss the TV. I only kept a small battery operated portable hand held TV, just to find out what was happening in the City for survival purposes only.
The kids played card games, board games, and engaged themselves in all sorts of conversation by candlelight into the wee hours of the morning. It reminded me of a scene from *The little house on the prairie*.
My oldest son became quite a good cook. He had a crash course on grilling on the outdoor pit, of course that was almost 9 days into the power outage. Most of the grocery stores didn't even have meats or perishable items until day 9.
One of the biggest lessons was patience. After day 7, when you realize that you don't even know when you're power will be restored, and searching for gas becomes an adventure, while waiting in long lines, your patience is tried. We prayed a lot, and trusted in God for all of our needs. I found out that I have more patience than I thought I had.
It was sad to see that many people didn't have any patience at all. Waiting in line for ice, and non perishable items, the wonderful people helping to distribute it were doing the very best that they could. But you still had people complaining that they weren't moving fast enough. People honking their horns while waiting in line for gas, it really makes you stop and think, are we really that spoiled? I sure hope that I'm not. We tried not to dwell on our situation, but thought about those who had lost so much more than we had. Those who had lost their homes, and all of their possessions. Those who lost businesses that took a life time to build, and less than 12 hours to be destroyed, and those who lost loved ones.
I saw the frightened faces of elderly men and women, who had lost everything that they owned, and literally had no place to go, and no one to live with, other than the temporary shelter.
Yes, we have a lot of downed and uprooted trees, broken fences, a pool that looks like a scene from *The Creature from the black lagoon* some missing and broken tile from the roof, BUT we never lost faith, or lost sight of our heavenly Father, and we continually praised Him throughout the entire experience.
Out of all the many trees that came down around our house, they ALL fell away from the house. Now that's what I call a Miracle.
Well I'm back to catching up with the over 800 emails that piled up in my inbox. I've spent a small fortune on bleach and cleaning items, and I'm off to continue with the clean up. Excuse me while I sneeze from all of the dust build up, mold and mildew, argh! those giant size mosquitoes are ramped .