Adios, Isaac!

This was the site near my house yesterday evening.  Lovely work crews from Georgia Power did their magic while I sat on the front porch and waited to hear the hum of my A/C units kicking in.  I can live without air conditioning, but not having even a fan to help cool you at night is miserable.  Cold showers before bed helped - a little.

We came through the storm OK, but had several days worth of work to clean up all the storm debris.  Our camp in Mississippi had several feet of flood water under the house and when the flood receded there was sticky, stinky mud everywhere.  Turns out I'm pretty handy with the pressure washer!

Despite my good intentions, I did no sewing - by hand or people-powered machine.  During the actual storm (which lasted f o r e v e r), it was too dismal to concentrate on sewing.  After the storm, it was just too hot and and everything in the house felt damp and sticky.  Now that life is getting back to normal, I can't wait to get my hands into some projects.  

Thanks to everyone who wrote and expressed concern about the storm and sent good thoughts and prayers.  I consider myself an old hand at hurricanes, but every storm is different and the outcome is always uncertain.  We have friends who lost everything in the floods caused by Isaac, so we know how quickly life can be turned upside down.  I'm hoping we've seen the end of hurricanes for this season!

Sleep & Sewing Deprived

I'm back from my job responsibilities at the state Emergency Operations Center.  Much happier to be in my own house and with my family, although we're likely to be without electricity for several days.  

Throughout the day today the storm's effects have been minimal.  We've had light rain and wind interspersed with sunshine.  My DH and son finished all the hurricane prep to the house while I was away, so now it's just a matter of waiting for the storm to pass.  Wind and rain are definitely picking up now, but our house is sturdy and built to withstand tropic storm winds.

I didn't have time to put together any type of sewing hand work before leaving for work yesterday.  It was torture to sit all night with nothing to do but check the storm's progress and watch the hands of the clock move ever so slowly.  Getting a hand sewing kit together is my biggest priority for the next 24 hours.  Hmm, should I set up some Just Takes Two blocks or some hexies?  Decisions, decisions!

Don't know when or if we will lose power, but I'll be doing my best to keep sewing through it all.  See you soon!

Trying to Reason with Hurricane Season

Here we go again!  Tropical Storm Isaac (soon to be Hurricane Isaac) seems to be taking aim for the New Orleans area.  It's just a little disconcerting he is projected to make landfall along the Louisiana coast on almost the exact anniversary of Hurricane Katrina!  Fortunately, we are all better prepared and have better flood protection systems than were in place seven years ago.

On the other hand, in 24 hours this unpredictable bad boy may be heading for the Texas-Louisiana border.  Having lived most of my life in hurricane country, I know it's better to be prepared than pray for deliverance.  We spent most of the day preparing our camp for high water and high winds, then came home to New Orleans to prep for wind, rain and lack of electricity.  So far we are only instructed to shelter in place, but be prepared to evacuate.

The interesting twist on our preparations is related to my job. Without boring you with a lot of details, I'll just say I am part of my company's emergency operations team, and as such I have to work 12 hour shifts at the state Emergency Operations Center in Baton Rouge for the duration of the event.  I've never done this before, so it's all a new experience.  I plan to put together an emergency hand work kit before I leave for the EOC tomorrow, but I have no idea what I'll actually be doing for the next 48 or so hours.  I'll see you all on the flip side!