Long Hollow

 

 

Name the season’s first hurricane Zelda and fool Mother Nature into calling it a year.

~Robert Brault

 

Throughout the night I woke several times to the sound of heavy rain outside my window. And this afternoon on my back deck, I watched as the wind swooped hard through the hollow every few minutes, tickling the treetops, making them bend and dance.  

My first hurricane was Carla, in 1961. I wasn't even 3 years old, but have vague memories of it. For one thing, I remember not being afraid, which amazes me until I realize I had all of my family with me. Why should I be afraid?

Tom and I experienced Hurricane Alicia together in 1983, soon after our first anniversary. We lived in League City at the time, a little inland from Galveston. During the eye of the storm, Tom went out to check on the house… and even climbed on the roof to make some repairs! 

Argh. 

We were lucky, though. No damage other than a few roof shingles. The neighborhood next door suffered a few tornadoes and in a park we often visited, huge old oaks lay on their sides. 

However… and I may be jinxing us by saying this… after some worrisome predictions about flooding and high winds in our area from Hurricane Harvey, it looks like Austin is going to get by with just some rainy days and cooler temps, both of which are welcome after a summer of mostly triple digit heat. 

But Harvey has hammered the central Texas Gulf Coast, especially the Rockport area, which includes Port Aransas, the special sanctuary where some of my girlfriends and I have an annual retreat.

Our weekend is still a month away, but right now it's unclear if our home-away-from-home is even standing. There has been tremendous damage in the area and, unfortunately, loss of life.

They have much more to worry about than whether they will get their annual weekend away with friends. 

So please join me in praying for everyone affected by Hurricane Harvey. 

 

And now, a few sweet!s from the past week or two. Please share yours in the comments!

 

I continue to find heart-shaped rocks. The one below seemed to have the notch drilled into it! 

 

Especially sweet! is that friends are sharing their own heart shapes with me, including the two below…

 

 

Two years ago I helped longtime friends of mine buy a new home in Kyle, south of Austin. They picked this site because of the gorgeous oak tree. The builders modified the design of the house to protect the tree.

Now they've decided to move and this gorgeous house (and tree!) will be on the market soon. Do you know anyone who is thinking of moving to the Austin area? Let me know!

 

The eclipse was only about 50% here, but TG had the forethought to buy all of us special glasses so we could see it. I didn't even think about taking photos of the eclipse, but aren't these cool glasses?

I'll hang on to them for 2024 when the next solar eclipse path is supposed to cross much closer to us. And I'll be prepared to take photos!

 

I took all three of the photos below in the space of an hour…

Soft, pink mornings for our walks … a surprise discovery of a few mountain pinks still blooming … a toad who has adopted us, and who thinks Belle's outside water bowl is a swimming pool. 

 

My mom told me once that geraniums were her favorite flowers, so every year I buy a plant. This one wasn't doing very well with the triple-digit temperatures (no green thumb here!), but I started remembering to water it every morning (with the toad's swimming pool water!) and it exploded with blooms. 

 

Here are a few more highlights from the past couple of weeks that don't come with photos, but are sweet! all the same…

Celebrating a friend's birthday with several other friends at an Italian restaurant I've never visited before, followed by a nighttime swim. Plenty of time for catching up.

Fnding the right apartment for a friend's son who will start treatments soon for stage 4 colon cancer, knowing that at least one of their worries has been resolved. 

Meeting a friend for coffee one day, and another friend/client for lunch on another. 

A woman at church gushing about what an awesome insurance agent my son is, and how much money he saved them. 

Phone calls with my sister. 

 

Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine.

~Anthony J. D’Angelo