So Far, So Good

We have heard from our daughter in Lafayette, Louisiana. She made it through the major part of Hurricane Gustav physically unscathed, although somewhat shaken. She still has to deal with potential flash floods and tornadoes today and tomorrow.

We will be continuing to watch weather reports and awaiting any news from her.

Although my husband and I lived in Louisiana for fourteen years, we are not natives of the state, and we never did quite understand why and how residents ever became adjusted to the tremendous upheaval that hurricanes bring to the lives of people in the gulf coast. We discovered in our years there, that most residents took weather in stride and simply incorporated hurricane preparation and clean-up into their daily routine.

However, for me, each hurricane we experienced was a major traumatic event. Whether we remained in town and hunkered down, or evacuated, each hurricane was worse than the last because we soon came to realize that hurricanes are not singular events in Louisiana, they are a part of life. This realization was one of the main factors that resulted in our move north.

I know, other parts of the country suffer from terrible weather. We had some miserable snow storms this winter and some pretty scary thunderstorms with lots of lightning too. But with each snow or lightning storm, I remember thinking, "I would much rather be going through this than through another hurricane!"

So, here we are in hurricane-free Illinois, still being tossed about emotionally by hurricane winds from afar, as we monitor our daughter's condition. And you know, what makes it all so unbearably frustrating, is that it will all happen again--maybe even this hurricane season.

(phot o by Jobe Rocco @ http://www.flickr.com/)