Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Still Recovering From Ike

Our electricity was restored last Friday night. Things are returning to normal here at home, although we still haven't unpacked the camper. Herb examined Emma's bower yesterday and reported that Ike pushed it southward by one foot. Other portable buildings on our street and a fifth wheel travel trailer were tumbled and destroyed.

The biggest problem we face now is all the rescheduling that is going on. My Cabrini Guild meeting has been moved to this Saturday, the day of Emma's "Keepers" mother-daughter tea. The tea itself may be rescheduled because the May Community Center where it is to be held does not yet have power. We also have a 4-H meeting and a home-ec co-op meeting (on herb gardening!) to reschedule.

San Jacinto Community College plans to reopen next Monday. Nathaniel will most likely have to make up class time on weekends. Emma's ballet school is still closed. We drove by it yesterday to check. It is located in a high-end Atascocita (Harris County) shopping district with several nice restaurants and a jazz bar. They are all still closed. I don't know how these places will recover financially. The Atascocita branch of the Harris County Library is open but DARK. Emma crawled on the floor to get close enough to read the titles of the books on the lower shelves. When we checked out, the librarian recorded my library card and book information in a notebook--the old fashioned kind with paper, not a notebook computer.

The saddest thing of all is the news coverage of school reopenings. Invariably, the reporter makes some comment about the kids needing to return to normalcy because they have been bored without video games and computers. The real news story is left unreported: These children have not built "furniture for the mind".

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