Farewell Gustav; Be Gone Ike!!!

It's 1:53pm. I just went outside to get some things from my car, and I can really see the effects of Hurricane Ike. It's extremely windy; I can hear its wooshing. There is also the flapping sound of loose tarpaper on some of my neighbors' houses that are still being repaired. I see a piece of loose weatherboard, in one of the yards, that I don't think was there before.

This morning, I could see the grey sky, letting me know rain was coming, and I wasn't disappointed, as it has rained here three times today. My contractor was proof of the rain, as he arrived late, and soaked, for our appointment. He had gone, in the rain, over to my sister's house to make a minor rain-preventive repair from some Gustav damage.

This is the first time I can truly say that I'm getting my head around this "hurricane season" thing. Periodically checking "The Weather Channel" for new of Hurricane Ike, while watching the weather outside your sunroom window, and waiting for you contractor to come out and check your Hurricane Gustav-damaged fence, kinda keeps the "season" on your mind. But, and this may sound abrasive to some, I think I'm coming to terms with this...this suspense, of sorts. And, by that, I really mean that I am actually not living in suspense. I'm hanging my newly purchased curtains; I'm potting my plants, I'm hanging my artwork. I'm going on with getting my house back in order ... in spite of Gustav, in spite of Ike!

Back Home

Sitting in my sunroom earlier today, I could see the effects of now Tropical Storm Fay. Very windy; a lot of rain. Got home from a trip to Atlanta, Ga. on yesterday. Have to catch up with my gardening. I think centipede grass is trying to take over my empty vegetable plots! A good thing, though, is that I may have discovered something about my Meyer Lemon tree. I overwatered it, just in case my son could not get over to water it, and came back to quite a few new branches. Maybe I'm not giving it enough water. Will experiment with that.

The Crescent City's Crescent Moon

I'm in my sunroom; it's 8:35 pm. This is the first time I've seen a crescent moon from my sunroom. It's the tiniest sliver of a moon, and it's sitting in the western sky. Now that I can sit in my sunroom for hours at a time, I am more aware of the earth's rotation, as the moon is slowly moving across the sky.

Note: One of New Orleans' nicknames is the Crescent City, because a "crescent" of the course of the Mississippi River runs through it.

Birds Strutting Their Stuff

I wasn't going to mention this but, since it happened twice, I thouhgt I'd note it.

This morning, while I was checking some accounts, I looked up and saw a big bluejay (I think it was female, or maybe young, because it was more grey than blue) hop across the top of my wooden fence. What made it interesting was that it hopped, from one board to the next, for about 50 feet. I smiled to myself, and went back to my work. Just now, a mourning dove flew to the fence, and did the same thing; walking for about 15 feet. The odd thing is that the bluejay hopped, but the dove walked. Interesting. Oh, the bluejay is back; gotta go...

Thriving Baby Banana

I came out into my sunroom to check my email and library accounts (trying to keep the fines down!). It's raining, and this is cool -the rain is coming in from the South, and only hitting two sides of my sunroom, so the windows on the north side are completely dry. And, guess what! As I'm panning my gaze from South to West to North, watching the rain, I notice a new 10" leaf has unfurled on my baby banana! The first picture shows the tree newly planted (07/09/08), just after my friend Wendy gave it to me. Over the next few days, the two outer leaves died away and, since then, I've been watering and feeding, all the while chanting the mantra, "Please don't die, please, please don't die." And look, a new leaf (2nd pic)!

Fleeting Sunset

It's 8:00 p.m. in New Orleans. I'm watchting the prettiest sunset. As my eyes travel downward, from the highest lavender-blue point in the sky, the sky gradually changes to pink, deep pink, deep sky blue, then lavender again, the last color appearing to sit just above the tops of the trees. At 8:11, there's just a deep pink strip between two dark blue shades. It's now 8:14, and the lower part of the sky is just a pink-purple, slowly fading to dark blue.

The saddest part about watching these sunsets, is that my camera, and my words, cannot do them justice.

Keeping Watch

I just walked out into my sunroom. I can see across a vacant lot to the next block. Two young boys, about 12 years old, are playing on a mound of sand at a home repair construction site. The driver of a passing pickup truck stopped, wagged his finger at them, gave them a tongue lashing, before sending them on their way, and then, continued on his way. I don't know if the man is a neighbor looking out for a friend's property, or looking out for the welfare and safety of the boys, but it's good to see. Ah, some discipline is alive and well!

BTW, I'm in New Orleans, Louisiana, where Hurricane Katrina destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes (200,000 according to Nat'l Assoc. of Homebuilders), and construction sites are far too common. Keep an eye out for your neighbor; keep an eye out for your children.