memorable memorial weekend

MEMORABLE MEMORIAL WEEKEND
the weekend was going to be a busy one

first was planned a day of working at a habitat for humanity
site on saturday
that got canceled because of the impending weather
then
sunday we planned to travel to the san antonio area to visit
my historian brother and cowgirl sister in law
then
back to austin on monday to visit my younger sons
girlfriend who was in town for a bachelorette party
no not hers
meeting her for lunch prior to her trip to the  airport

well we got to do all that except for working at habitat
we just had some excitement along the way

on saturday night as i lay in bed reading my bee book
my wife she says
ok i gonna go to the shower
what that means
shes scared now because of the torrential rain and winds
and
her friends texting her that a tornado was spotted close
to us
our tv service was knocked out

now our shower downstairs is made from recycled bricks
from an old farmhouse
its like a fortress
its where my wife goes when she feels threatened by bad weather

for some reason i guess since i grew up in the south
it doesnt seem to bother me much

ok it did get a little scary for a few minutes
when you look outside and the rain is coming into
your house in a straight line parallel to the ground
and
its hitting the sides of your house coming from different
directions-north south east and west
you know thats not a good thing

now we need rain around here lots of it
it seems thats what we got that night
lots of it
my wife she survived
at least she didnt sleep in the shower last night
she has before

when i awoke
went outside
no visible damage seen
well a few limbs here and there
and
the best part was my rainwater tanks were overflowing

what that means is that
all 30,000 gallons of capacity in my tanks are full
we now have enough water for
more than a year

its been several years since the tanks have overflowed
like that
that was after a 10 inch rain one night

ok im happy now
my tanks are full
it can stop raining now
but
sorry to say it didnt
and
that rain im so happy about
caused a lot of tragedy around here

the worst being the family of four who rented a cabin
in the blanco river
the river swept the cabin away
the cabin hit a bridge
split in two
leaving the dad on one side and the two kids and mom
on the other side
after the house hit the bridge
the mom called her sister
said they were floating down the river in the broken in two
house
dad on on piece they on the other

dad survived as he was plucked from the river and is in icu
mom and kids were never found
only pieces of the cabin was found

so its hard for me to celebrate too much over the rain i got
im glad i got it
but
somehow i dont feel good about it
since
all the tragedy and damage the storm did

even monday after we met our sons girlfriend for a
soul food lunch
the clouds had cleared for hours
on the way home
it all hit again
torrential rains
flooding the city of austin and surrounding areas
flooding the highway we were traveling on
tornadoes popping up
people getting rescued from the streets of austin
a large lakes dam rupturing and flooding the bastrop area
where all the fires occurred years ago
more people missing

we made it home safely
missing the flooding that was so bad
our yard was full of water like a lake
then in a few hours
all the water was gone
then
things seemed back to normal
all safe again

so
this was a memorable memorial weekend
a few good things
but
im sorry to say
a lot of tragic ones

the organicgreen doctor