Hurricane

Well, folks - if you HAVEN'T been watching the news since Friday afternoon, my beloved home is in the path of Katrina, the newest hurricane to confront the gulf coast. Incidentally - only the 4th Cat. 5 to be recorded to hit the US. So, i'm a little panicked.

A LOT panicked.

After a day of denying that Katrina was gulf-bound, I spent Saturday watching Jim Cantore from the Weather Channel broadcast live from Biloxi Beach. (for those of you who haven't experienced the continual monitoring of hurricanes, Jim Cantore ALWAYS goes to where the worst part is/will be. So when I awoke Saturday to see his smiling face in front of Treasure Bay Casino in Biloxi, I was not pleased.

Saturday was spent watching Max's favorite - football (a local AL team was featured on ESPN) and my current obsession - Hurricane Central on Weather Channel. After finally rousing ourselves & detaching the remote from my ever-tightening grip, we headed out to still-sunny Gulfport to attempt to do some shopping and eating. While en-route to such endeavors, I was approached via my handy-dandy cell phone by 3 of my co-workers, all with concerns for my safety and offers of joining them on their escape routes/plans. It wasn't until AFTER these phone calls that I started thinking about actually leaving. =)

Somewhere between the chicken fingers and fried mushrooms at Zaxby's, I decided to make the long-dreaded decision to head to Birmingham for the duration of the onslaught. Dreaded not because I dread being at Max's - not at all. Dreaded for the 5 hour time spent driving. Dreaded for the combining of my cats with Max's cats - not a fun situation for anyone. Dreaded for the sheer fact that I resented the reality that katrina was coming, and she wouldn't be bringing a cake and balloons.

Nevertheless, I pushed past my resentment and packed clothes, cats, and cross-stitch for the trip.

So, here I am - 24 hours later, after a night of little sleep - cats reminding us and each other that they really weren't happy about seeing each other again - I'm STILL obsessing over the weather channel, and trying to reassure my mother that I really am fine. I made the mistake of sharing my fear with her this afternoon, which now gives her permission to try to comfort me at all times, even when the fear has past. It also then requires 2x daily phone calls to re-iterate everything she's seen on TV or heard on the radio. This does NOT help calm my nerves.

I have friends that are staying there. I pray for them, and I think about them.

My home is there. It is the 2nd floor of an old building on the Biloxi peninsula. It contains the few meaningful items I have collected (all debt to the contrary). The afghan my grandmother crocheted for me - the last grandaughter to receive such a gift before her death. The ring she left me - the only grandchild to share her birth month. The cross-stitches I have done - and kept. The picture Max gave me for my birthday. Max's grandmother's bed that I have since my queen bed wouldn't fit up the stairs. My scrapbook of college photos and memories. While I recognize that these are just things, I still think about being without them.

My work is there. My job - after being somewhat dormant for a year - has increased dramatically in recent months, and I have many papers and projects sitting on the first floor of two buildings - which, if the storm surge and flooding is as it is predicted, could be underwater within 24 hours. While I can re-create the work and re-think the thoughts, it gives me chills to think of what could be destroyed.

I LOVE THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS. It has become, in a short 2 years, my city. In no other city have I felt as safe, nor have I enjoyed another city as much. New Orleans contains many memories, and I fear for what it will be like tomorrow.

For the gulf coast and the people who have stayed, and the people who will return home to a changed landscape, my thoughts & prayers are with you.

For those of you not experiencing this event, I encourage you to give as you are able to the Red Cross, or to the United Methodist Church - Committee on Relief, or to the Salvation Army. These groups have already established themselves (among others, I am sure) to be first responders, and are simply waiting until tomorrow and Tuesday to meet the needs that will be left when Katrina moves on. My neighbors - all those on the gulf coast - will be among those being served - remember us as you pray and as you go about your day.

Do not pray for a shift in wind - that simply sends the danger elsewhere. Pray that God's peace would be among those in fear, that God's people would rise up to comfort and to provide for those in need, and that recovery and renovation would go smoothly. Pray for the safety of those remaining in their homes, by choice or by lack of options. Pray that we will one day live to see a world where everyone can choose to remove themselves from harms' way - in whatever way that comes.