ike, ike, baby

Wow, it’s not every day that words like hurricane and tropical storm get tossed around my little corner of Texas, but today everyone’s using these buzz words.

Depending upon which meteorologist you turn to, it looks like spin off from Hurricane Ike may dampen (or drench) the Dallas area by Saturday … just in time for the American Heart Association walk (do they make running shoes shaped like goulashes? Hmm …).

Now, however, I’m more concerned about the Houston area. It sounds like Ike might be a bit nasty over there this weekend. I e-mailed my friend and newbie mom, Lindsey, a Houstonite, to see if she and her family were planning to flee the possible flood or hang tight:

“They're evacuating a lot of the lower lying areas here in Houston, but so far, they haven't told us to leave. We're out close to Sugar Land, which is southwest of Houston. But, just to be on the safe side, Cody is going to be boarding up our windows this afternoon to prepare. We'll see what happens. If we haven't blown away by Monday, I'll shoot you a note to let you know I'm still alive.”

I think the words “board” and “windows” in relation to my house would have me crapping my pants, but I guess living near the coast is like living in tornado alley, when the shit starts flying, take cover, until then, it’s just a little rain.

All teasing aside though, I ask that anyone who reads this to please be in thought and prayer for those families still reeling from Gustav and who are in the wake of Ike.

And, as you send up your words of peace, strength, support and love, please join me in a message of remembrance. Time has a tendency to water down the vividness of things, but if we each take a few minutes to pay homage to the events that shook this country to its core seven year ago, we can, for a moment, be united in memory. It is our duty to look to the past, look toward the future and be ever-present, ever-mindful in the here and now.