Back home

I got in yesterday afternoon and have been enjoying my vacation. My flights were pretty good despite my seat being in the last row on both of them. As we descended below the clouds in Houston and the land became visible, a little kid yelled, "Texas!" My thoughts exactly.

Pretty soon after our little propeller-driven Saab plane left H-town I started seeing blue FEMA tarps on roofs and downed trees between rice fields, all pointing south. Mom & Dad brought Baz's boys to pick me up. The main building was damaged by Rita and still not in use, so they were able to wait in a small area with glass walls in the old building and watch the plane land - big thrill for the 4-year-olds. :)

Last night we went to see my grandma at the nursing home Christmas party. Good food and Santa. My Mom pointed out some residents who were from New Orleans. (Today we bought gloves and a hat for one lady who was upset and complained to my aunt that all she got was socks at the party. Maybe she doesn't have any people here - who knows? They could be anywhere in the country after Katrina.) In the hallway they had news clippings and pictures related to the the Rita evacuation. My grandma ended up going to Georgia; she has a photo collage of her 95th birthday celebration in a nursing home over there near Macon.

Anyway, there's plenty of hurricane damage around here, and I haven't even been around much. Lots of debris, fallen trees and broken-down fences. Saw a couple of houses with absolutely no roofs and FEMA trailers out front. And those blue tarps are everywhere. Mom & Dad are trying to get a roofer to get the right color tiles before they get theirs repaired. There's a housing shortage which has resulted in a shortage of workers, too. I'll be taking some pictures starting tomorrow.