Pat Bean's blog

“When we contemplate the whole globe as one great dewdrop, striped and dotted with continents and islands, flying through space with other stars all singing and shining together as one, the whole universe appears as an infinite storm of beauty.” — John Muir

Sunrise in Van Horn, Texas, on Wednesday, when I began the second leg of my journey back to Tucson, Arizona. — Photo by Pat Bean

While Hurricane Harvey Roared

I drove to Texas for a granddaughter’s wedding one weekend and a family reunion the next weekend. The wedding was held in Dallas — and it was beautiful. But the family reunion on the coast was canceled because of Hurricane Harvey. I stayed dry in Dallas and anxiously watched the impact Harvey had on two of my five children, six of their children, and two of my quite-young great-granddaughters and their families.

Hurricane Harvey near peak intensity prior to landfall in Texas, on August, 25. — Wikimedia photo

My son D.C. and his son David evacuated their homes in West Columbia. Their families went to Temple, Texas, where they watched events on television at their hotel. My other son and family members sat out the hurricane in Lake Jackson, Galveston and Houston. Amazingly their homes weren’t flooded, although it was a close call for family members in West Columbia, who still haven’t been allowed to return home because the San Bernard River flooded the sewage plant serving their residential area.

“In fact,” D.C. said, “it was the residents who couldn’t evacuate, because all outgoing roads flooded so quickly, who saved our neighborhood. They got to work and shored up the levee to keep it from overflowing.”

D.C. also said, before he knew his home was safe, that what mattered was that all his loved ones were safe, and that was what was important. My son and I think alike.

Meanwhile, I got to spend more time with my oldest daughter than in a long, long, time. We had a great visit, spending much of it playing board games. Even my son-in-law Neal and I got along, despite the fact that he and I are quite competitive game opponents, and he annoys me by giving me huge bags of gummy bears, which I eat until I get sick.

Bean Pat: Storms http://tinyurl.com/y748oypa Great birds and inspirational thoughts.

   Pat Bean is a Lonely Planet Community Pathfinder. Her book, Travels with Maggie, is now up on Amazon at http://tinyurl.com/y8z7553y You can contact Bean at patbean@msn.com