Periscope Up

Hi.

We’re all okay.

**exhales deeply**

That said, not everyone around us is. There are a lot of rivers and bayous that have yet to crest, so please continue to keep Houston in your thoughts…

Now, let’s go back to Friday.

I left work around 3 and headed home, stopping for gas once more at my Super Secret Petrol Station. (It’s not really a secret…it’s the Exxon at the north corner of I-10 and 1463. Last I checked they still have gas and there are no lines, for anyone who’s in need.)

Once home, I battened everything down, reefed the main, and settled in for a blow.

“Are you SURE you know what you’re doing, Dad?”

As Harvey began to punch The Body of Christ Corpus Christi, I watched the tracking (or lack thereof) of the storm very closely. My hope was that, because it had spun up to a Category 4 hurricane before making landfall, that spin might pull the eye directly inland, and we would be spared the worst-case scenario that I mentioned last week.

Yeah, wrong about that one, Jer…

The models became more and more in sync, and began to paint an increasingly worrisome picture. By Sunday I’d become concerned enough to inflate a spare mattress we’d used for a friend’s visit a few months ago, with the express intention of using it as a failsafe flotation device for Jen and Daphne (with yours truly acting as the propeller), should we need to sail to safety.

“Are you SURE you know what you’re doing, Dad?”

And I’m happy to report that it never came to that.

On Monday, the call to evacuate Jen’s parent’s place was made. They packed up what they could and came to our house to ride out the rest of the storm. They actually went back home yesterday afternoon, and from what we’ve heard their house is doing okay.

You’ve all seen countless images and videos of this stuff, so I don’t need to add too many more here. But here are a few shots and videos of our local Flewellen Creek, which is about 200 yards from my front door.

Yeah, on Friday night I was still having a beer or two. That stopped once things became a bit more dire…

 

For reference, it’s supposed to look like this:

But by Wednesday morning we’d turned a corner, and the skies started to clear. We took Daphne out in her wagon for a change of scenery. (Honestly it was for all of us; we were all pretty sick of being stuck in the house…)

Finally, Jen and I would like to thank all of you for your concern for us. We really appreciated the messages and check-ins on Facebook. You’re awesome people.

Talk to you soon,

j.s.

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