Wednesday Hodgepodge 6 September 2017 Wharton Texas Hurricane Harvey

1. When you think about your future what do you fear most? Hope for the most?

As most of you know, we are sent a lot of books to review.  It seems that there are a lot of books now about long term care, elder care, aging in place, etc.  What I fear most is that Suzanne and I will need long term care and we will be separated from one another and put into separate places.  Neither one of us will last a day that way.

We depend on each other for love and support.

2. September is National Chicken Month. How often is chicken on the menu at your house? What's a favorite dish made with chicken? What's something you're a 'chicken' about doing or trying?

Due to our economic situation, any type of meat, poultry, or fish is somewhat rare at our house.  We have one of those maybe once a week or so.

One dish we like is, of course, fried chicken. We also like chicken and rice, chicken lasagna, and barbecue chicken. I think my favorite chicken dish would have to be chicken casserole.  

Granny-for-Short used to make something called glory fried chicken.   She would fry a chicken, smother it with cream of children soup, and put bell pepper and a little onion on it, then bake.  It was great.

3. What are three things you don't own but wish you did?

I think, after this past week, we really wish we owned a truck and/or an air boat.  A high water vehicle, that is the combination truck-boat that they use around here when the water gets high, would be a great thing to have.  

Because of the events of this past week, I would love to have a drone.  I could send it out to take videos of friends’ neighborhoods and/or businesses to see how things were going.  That would be a great thing to have.  

Also, I would love to have a weather station.  That is where one has sensors outside their home to measure rain, wind speed, temperature, and humidity.  I could check this from the computer and know what it is like outside.  

4. Would you rather be a jack of all trades or a master of one? Elaborate.  If you answered one, which one?

There is something to be said both ways.  Being handy with tools is a great thing.  If one can have a trade like being a knowledge worker and still be able to fix things around the house, that would be great.

If I had to choose just one, I would say, hypnotism. I have studied the mind, as an amateur, for years and I am fascinated with what can be done with just the power of the mind.  I have actually used hypnosis, subliminal messages, to control our oldest son’s ADHD.  It worked great.

5. Ketchup or mustard? On what?

I am not a fan of mustard, but I eat it on occasion.  Sometimes I have it on a hot dog. And, a McDonald’s Quarter Pounder with cheese is great with mustard.

If you are from the South, you must be aware of the whole mustard/ketchup debate when it comes to barbecue sauce.  First of all, anyone who says they barbecue hamburgers or steaks should have their grill taken away from them by a responsible adult.  Normally, you “Grill” hamburgers or steaks.

Barbecue is the slow roasting of meat on an open fire.  It usually involves sauce or some type of dry rub.  It must be cooked slow and steady and turned often to be at its best.

Barbecue sauce should have a ketchup base.  We make it with a combination of ketchup and cocktail sauce.  We put that in a crockpot to simmer very slowly for hours before starting to use it on meat.

6.  Insert your own random thought here.

We live in Wharton, Texas.  CNN called us “The Town the World Forgot”.  We survived Hurricane Harvey with practically no damage even though he passed directly over us on his way from Rockport to Houston.

Our youngest daughter lives in Corpus Christi.  It was hit directly by Harvey as a Cat 4 storm.  Although there is damage all around her, she and her roommates returned to find their apartment was moist but okay.

Avalon Food Mart Wharton, Texas

Days after the hurricane, our town braced for flooding.  Whenever there is a storm, we flood.  Our nearly four feet of rain was draining off.  The street crews were hard at work clearing the storm drains.  The town officials roped off the streets that normally flood when rain comes down the Colorado River from inland.  We were ready, or so we thought.  We were ready for storm waters from the San Bernard River.  We were ready for storm waters from the Colorado River.  We did not know about a swell coming down Peach Creek, which starts out in our town as several underground springs.  

A wall of water rushed down the Colorado, as expected.  A wall of water rushed down the San Bernard, as expected.  No one expected the walls of water to hit Wharton at the same time.  No one expected lazy little Peach Creek and all the other creeks in the area to get massive amounts of water.  And no one expected the railroad bed to become a river in seconds.  They all hit at the same time.  

Now, many people in the town are walking around in a daze, still holding their yellow slips.  Many don’t have a home they can go back to.  The water gave no warning at all.  The river authority was watching all rivers and creeks.  There was no warning.   Most had seconds to escape the devastating flood.

We still have boots on the ground.  Anyone wishing to donate should do so to the American Red Cross.  They are the one’s writing the checks.  There may be other legitimate organizations raising money.  But, all the boots on the ground here are getting their money from the American Red Cross.  The shelters are manned by volunteers from numerous organizations.  But, the American Red Cross is taking care of the finances.  

Small churches in the area, who normally take care of the victims in such circumstances, were flooded, too.  The American Red Cross is helping them get back to normal.

Wakefield Inn

We are slowly getting back to normal.  Our family was spared.  We never lost power and we stayed dry.  Many of our neighbors were not so lucky.  However, we personally only know three families who were directly impacted.  There are countless others.  Many city businesses suffered a great loss.  Who carries flood insurance when they are in a 500 year floodplain?  Parts of our town flood every year.  

Our thanks goes out to the City of Wharton who manned the Emergency Management Center around the clock.  Also, to Willie Sanders and his street department.  They did a fine job.

We also saw a great effort by law enforcement, city, precinct, county, and state as well as from many different military units.  And countless volunteers who rode into town, rescued people, and rode out, without asking for thanks.  

Out here, a true cowboy jumps the fence, saddles up, rides like the wind to help a neighbor and leaves before the neighbor has a chance to thank him.  Often a kindness is shown in secret.  Paul Overstreet sings a song “Love Helps Those Who Cannot Help Themselves.”  A lot of love was shown by a lot of cowboys.

And, in this case, cowboys came from all over the United States and several foreign countries.

President Trump came to Texas to see what we needed.  The only thing many in the media were concerned about is the shoes the First Lady wore.  How could she know?  

Thank you all for your prayers.  We are starting to get back to a new normal.  Our friend Anwar may never get back to normal.  He is 63 years old.  He lost everything.  His business is a total loss. He caters to the poorest of the poor.  He has a heart as big as all Texas.  If you can, please send him a note letting him know you are praying for him.  His address is Anwar Hossain  C/ O Avalon Food Mart, 2425 N Richmond RD, Wharton, Texas 77488.

Thanks again.

If you would like for me to pray for you, please drop me an e-mail by clicking prayer.



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http://lifespw.blogspot.com/2017/09/back-to-school-hodgepodge.html

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