Waiting for [I don't like] IKE

Well it was coming here. Then it wasn’t. Now it is again.

*rolls eyes, big sigh*

A huge cloud of complacency covered southeast Texas yesterday (Tuesday). On Monday everyone was on high alert then they said “never mind, it’s going to Brownsville.” Red flagswere lowered and evacuations held off until the last minute.

But THEN the forecast changed. Instead of the well-planned evac by zip code it is: “Brazoria County, y’all get out now.”

Not that everyone’s leaving yet. There were fifteen pickups in the plywood line at Home Depot, (I'm glad we already had ours) and fifteen people in the prescription pickup line at Walgreen’s! Wal-Mart was surprisingly empty but I think a lot of people had supplies left from the Gustav episode last week. Or they were still at Home Depot.

Galveston County has been advised to shelter in place. I hope they all have a second story. Supposed to be a huge storm surge with this thing, and Jim Cantore is hanging out there. It's always bad when he shows up!

Well – I’m not going. I’d leave the livestock - sorry all you animal lovers but none of mine qualify as “high dollar,” which is really all they want you to take. What I have is too many dogs. I could stick them all in the van and drive, hoping to stay out of traffic, hoping to find somewhere to go. Made that mistake with Rita and don’t want to do it again.

I’m thirty miles, plus or minus, from the coast. The plywood’s going up as I type, and we have forty-eight hours to pray for the thing to do a Rita and go north sooner than expected. Or it can go west. Or east. I’d love it to go east. Anywhere not as densely populated.

Meanwhile I’m going to stay home, do laundry, and continue to stock up.

Watching, wondering, waiting.