After Ike

Post-Ike life in the area I'm from hasn't been all that bad. Like my dad said, "It's like camping, only you can't go home because you're already there."

We were fortunate and never lost water and we got power and electricity back within 24 hours of my getting home. Everything does have a weird Alas, Babylon feel to it, though. Like I should be telling people to conserve their whiskey to clean their wounds or something.

Also, a huge chunk of the pine trees in our neighborhood got knocked down, so there's that distinct piney scent everywhere you go. It makes me feel like I'm living some twisted version of Christmas - except you give away half of your trees and don't get any presents; kids aren't in school so they can play whenever and wherever they want - as long as they avoid the downed powerlines; and instead of 'don't eat the yellow snow' the saying is 'don't play in the green pools.'

But we have been really lucky, and I'm thankful. We only lost two trees, and although they were massive, they avoided our house and only took out part of our fence. Things could have been much worse. Here's an idea of what our backyard looked like right after:

On a different note, Spain prep is going well - only a few more days!