§ A Philosophical Question....

From Nicholas, that turned into a hurricane and made landfall near Freeport, Texas just south of Houston, here in Corpus we only got wet. "He" stayed clear of our home. No flooding in our neck of the woods. I'm not sure about other parts of the city, or what happened on the islands with the extreme low-lying areas and the water/storm surge. I understand, by the local news coverage, power outages were minimal; we weren't affected. The winds were gusty at times. In fact, by mid afternoon, we actually saw patches of blue sky...but it soon disappeared and the clouds built up heavily again, but non-threatening. We fared pretty well, thank you.  My biggest concern is our son in Houston.  Am waiting to hear from him.  Now, since we freeze water in bottles for our coolers [ice is very hard to find in stores during the days BEFORE a storm...so we improvise and make our own.  In fact the larger iced bottles of water stay frozen much longer than bagged ice cubes!!] to keep food stuffs cold during loss of power, and Bud kept busy reassembling our BBQ'r to heat drinking water for his French coffee press and my daily oatmeal breakfast.  Today, once I know Erik is okay, we will be taking things out of the freezer [water bottles] and Bud will pack away the small cooker for next time so it isn't cumbersome and in the way in our garage.  The ice goes out on plants in the yard, and we will begin saving more of the bottles for the use in the future if need be.  In case you're concerned with heating water as we do, we use our covered front porch because so many lives have been lost with using such devices indoors and dying because of carbon monoxide poisoning.  Just common sense.  Now, maybe it's too early, but perhaps later...are you ready for a smoothie?----

tomato and bloody mary graphic borrowed from Google Search

§ Nicholas

As I type this up on Monday morning, the rain is falling in bands now and then, the winds are picking up, the temps are between sauna and bath-house warm. The Tropical Storm, Nicholas, is on its way to Corpus Christi. It's predicted to hit our city around Tuesday morning, early. Like in dark-o-thirty early! Which means, I won't be sleeping tonight! LOL There is a slight possibility of it being a hurricane instead of a T S, but I think it's unlikely. If I'm wrong, that'll be the first time. [:::snort:::] In any case, no doubt, the power will be out for a while [I don't understand why a hurricane prone area such as the Gulf Coast does NOT bury power lines instead of the poles that are always toppling over.] No matter my opinion at the time tho. If I disappear it's because I am conserving the laptop and phone energy for emergencies.

§ Photo Overload...

If I follow my weekly routine, I would've been home doing laundry on Saturday morning. Instead, I chose to drive to North Padre Island and stop at Whitecap Beach to walk and check out the waves shortly after high tide. Hurricane Grace that made landfall in Old Mexico was supposed to create 8 foot waves for our coast. It didn't pan out. At least while I was at the seawall. And, being Saturday, to boot, seems everyone in the 'hood was there too...like a day of early sales for Christmas...what do they call that? Black Friday? Many many walkers, joggers, dog walkers, people with cellphones aimed at the parallel to catch the first glimpse of the sun breaking the horizon. I was there, disappointed that along the seawall there were no crashing waves.  BUT***

Of course I took photos! And a LOT of them!! Hope the number of photos doesn't make this post slow to load. I apologize up front!

It never fails tho, there is always someone who is foolish enough to drive on this....stuck! It was a young woman [in her early 20s my guess]. I have said this a million times, and will reiterate...there is no common sense seen much anywhere any more!! Cops to the rescue?! Dunno...he left and she was still there when I left. What I can't understand is, there were dozens of capable people, but no one tried to help. I'm too old to push vehicles, but there WERE young whippersnappers!! 4-6 guys coulda had her straighten her front wheels and pushed her to 'drier' ground!

 

Showing many people out and about, and behind me, the pretty pinks in the sky above the dunes...

...and now for my BUT*** seen above.  At one point near the end of the seawall, I used my zoom lens to see if I could view the jetty at packery channel about 1/4 mile away.  I wasn't about to venture off the wall's walkway and get my feet soaked from the ebb tide and playing twister to avoid all the debris washed up on shore from the storm.  Showing the rough breakwater waves crashing!

§ A Very Angry Sea...

Last Sunday morning, when Tropical Storm Beta was out in the Gulf, threatening us along the Texas coast, I drove to the Packery Channel [one of the few places that wasn't closed to the public]. Y'wanna try saying this fast three times: "Wanna see what I saw of the sea?" Here are some photos. Of course, I didn't go all the way to the end. In fact NO ONE did! But, I had my zoom lens ready for some action [and also one when a deafening stillness was noticed]. I was standing MANY yards away; out of harm's way. But, I must tell you, I did get drenched heavily once. The surf came in along the jetty boulders and hit the corner of one and sprayed up with great force, soaking me. LOL

I thought these girls were either brave or showed some stupidity. When they got up close to me far away from the wrath, the one on the right offered [without my coaxing] to take a photo of me hanging on. The blinding sun was in my eyes. But, the gesture was appreciated...
Keep in mind, these taken were far away from the danger zone...I was using my large zoom lens!!

On Monday morning it was breezy, light rain, and minor coastal flooding. Corpus Christi made it out of danger pretty well.

§ Afghan Update...

In the News for Friday, August 21st, around 8 a.m. in the morning a barge that was in the Port Ship Channel supposedly dredged and hit a propane gas line causing a massive explosion and tremendous amount of black smoke and huge ball of fire [nearly 150 feet high] jutting into the sky. As of this typing up my post, the smoke and flames and cause was of no human hazardous fallout. That remains to be seen, what with the way media cover up stories some times. I never throw caution to the wind these days. Here are three photos I found online depicting the recent explosion [time frame shortly after occurrence] - - -
several severely burned & still 4 crew members missing.

images courtesy of KIII-tv


- - -

I finished the pansies! 88 of them....440 square knots tied, enumerable stitches totaled [I guess I could add the stitches for one pansy [from the pattern instructions] and multiply that by 88 to get total stitches, but lazy]. I had to lay them individually out on the carpet to make sure I got them in a combination that no color is repeated together; then stack them and wrap them in order with row numbers attached to the top pansy. Now, I have to crochet each pansy to the next [8 to 11 rows].

I'm taking a break from it for a week before I begin the ending of the project....

- - -

And, last for the day, we are watching the tropics [those of us living on the Gulf of Mexico shores], there are TWO storms heading our way.  One looks like it is projected to hit around or near Mobile, Alabama as a CAT-1 [named Laura], and the other's path is heading toward Houston, Texas area right now.  Both may change course in the meantime, so #14 [not named as of this posting] Bud and I will be watching this one closely...if Houston, Erik lives there...if it turns westward, we may get hit...again!!
addendum: 2nd storm named Marco

§ After the Storm...

Monday, July 27, 2020

The beaches remained closed. Mostly now, for cleanup of debris and repair work. In an interview of a fellow that owns/operates a restaurant right on the beach [at Bob Hall Pier, an icon for decades], he is quoted as saying that it wasn't a category ONE, but TWO when it made landfall at Padre Island near the pier. By the looks of the damage done on the pier and restaurant on Monday [what I could see], I'd have to agree. In fact, 20 miles away, at our home, the winds seemed to be stronger than 90 MPH, which is top speed for cat 1!! But, what do I know? I'm not the expert here.

Anyway, the pier was literally torn to pieces, the area just feet away from the pier, covered picnic tables that have been there through many storms, were literally swept away this time, including much of the parking lot [washed out in chunks as big as city blocks!!]  The pier itself lost the very end into the Gulf, and the blocks of concrete that make the pier's pathway, literally lifted up off the stanchions. and broken into shards as large as a vehicle.  

But, as far as I know, no injuries where the eye hit land.

So, I did go walking. Beaches closed 'til further notice [to vehicles]. As I drove the island highway, I noticed all the barricades, indicating to me there would certainly be no access at Bob Hall Pier since the most damage was done there. I pulled off at Whitecap Beach...There, two police vehicles were barricading the parking lot. The city maintenance crew was cleaning up the parking lot that became a beach during the storm. [lots of sand and debris washed in]. I asked permission to go on foot to the shore...was granted access and took photos. Mostly of the vast amount of pelicans overhead...returning from their safety zone? Dunno, just guessing. Along the seawall, where I stood and where I walked along the wall about a mile, I could see that all the stairways from the wall to the beach have been washed away.

I left and walked back to the car, thanking the officer for allowing me in with my camera.  [Not all policemen are corrupt!!]

All taken at Whitecap Beach -Padre Island

...Then, I figured I would try my luck approaching farther down the highway, toward the Bob Hall Pier and National Padre Island Seashore [which is also closed because of damage, and the only access is by vehicle on normal days]

Sand barricade -15 foot high estimated- built on beach access roads
to keep vehicles off the beach

Everything was still quite flooded out near the pier. Roads were barricaded with high sand blockage [sand piled high; nearly 15 feet high.  See photo above].  I parked on one of the roads and walked, climbing the 'no vehicles beyond this point'. The storms were brewing all the time I was there...out on the horizon. Before I reached the pier, about 1/2 mile away, I got drenched. That's okay. Seriously, it's like a warm shower in my own bathroom. But, after a grueling climb and walk in the rain, once I returned to the car, I made sure I had the HEATER ON instead of my usual air conditioning. Once I got home, I had a huge mess of sand and wet in the car to clean up. By the way, the last three photos I share is courtesy of Google Images, showing you the pier before Hanna...

Google images below.  Now, only a partial section of pier is left.  The restaurant remains, but I don't know the extent of the damage, the picnic tables and parking lot no longer exist: