Whew. I honestly haven't had time (or the energy) to post lately. With all the catastrophes happening around the state and the gulf, keeping up with my blog took a backseat to the BIG PICTURE. Ya know? I mean, does anyone really sit back and ponder what I did today? *LOL* Who cares if someone pissed me off (or vice versa)? It's all very tiny and insignificant when faced with the reality of what's going on in the world today -- like helping other people get a semblance of a life back after their world has been ripped from them. That's a major, ongoing commitment that I am actively involved in. I want to help - I can't just turn a blind eye to this. Who could?? Yet, there are some that do. Some people actually think New Orleans shouldn't rebuild. Others say Katrina was God's way of cleansing the town of the sinners and evil-doers that inhabited it. Perhaps it was all the gris-gris and voodoo mojo that set it off, right? My God -- I am so tired of that narrow-mindedness. Bottom line: Those people are human beings and they need help. They don't need to be judged - not by those who choose to sit back in their comfy recliners -- desensitized and unwilling to lend a hand (except maybe to point fingers at who or why it happened *rolls eyes*). Help your fellow man. It's the RIGHT thing to do.

Make a difference.

Go to NETWORK FOR GOOD and donate to help these people and their families.

Meanwhile, DH and I donated more items and time to the shelters in our area. This time we have people who fled Rita from the TX Gulf as well as So. La. My grandmother lives (lived?) in Beaumont, TX -- and now she doesn't know if she has a home to go back to. She and my uncle (her son) evacuated in time not to get stuck in all that horrible traffic that came with the mass exodus of Houston/Gulfport/Beaumont -- thank goodness!!

Rita hit our area (NW La on the TX Border) pretty hard Saturday. It flooded the streets in most areas and blew high winds enough to topple big oaks and pine trees in the area before it moved northward. Here are a few pics I took when it had finally stopped raining that day. Our house is on a fairly steep incline, so the flooding in the backyard wasn't that bad at all.



(above) The bottom of our driveway...


(above) The neighbor across the street had put a bag of leaves and mulch at the bottom of his driveway and that's how we gauged how high the water was. At one point the street had flooded and covered the top of the bag. That was the highest water we'd witnessed during our brush with Rita.


(above) A zoom-in faaaar down the street of a couple checking out the storm's aftermath. You can also see the truck in front of them navigating thru wheel-high water.


(above) We have a LOT of trees in our neighborhood, so they blocked most of the yards from the high winds, but it managed to tump over the wheelbarrow. You can see the rivers of water pooling in the yard, too.


(above) Molly and Cody do NOT like being out in this soggy, muddy mess. Ick!


(above) This is a (blurry) shot of my neighbor's yard. Looks more like a lake doesn't it??


(above) Grab a fishing pole, the creek's a-risin'! Actually this is our street after most of the floodwaters had drained off.


(above) Another angle of our street after the flooding.


(above)Whew! Thank goodness we didn't lose any tiles off the roof -- we just went into debt having a new roof put on back in June '05 from the last damage we received (from a small tornado in 2004). Pieces of limbs and leaves are scattered around the roof in the pic.


(above) This is the space between our neighbor and us. The grass is hiding the standing water here. Squishy...ick.