Minor Manipulations

If you look to the right you'll find that I've turned the player off and changed it's color. I think the new color is less "in my face". Hope others like that too.

The reason I turned the thing off was that it was getting in the way of other functions on my computer. It slowed my dsl way down. It's a constant source of music/noise. The player uses Java which doesn't seem to like having multiple applets running at the same time. Add a mail browser to that and things get even worse. It took 10 minutes to check my email this morning. To load the daily jigsaw puzzle required closing two tabs. If performance doesn't improve the thing goes. Does anyone know if there are some Java settings I can adjust to make things work better?

My PC is very knowledgeable about computers and software. He suggested some free photo manipulation software, GIMP, that is open source and works on multiple platforms. I installed it today and tried out a few of the filters. There are tutorials and books showing how to use all the features it has. Those will come in handy as I'm finding myself in need of a digital terms dictionary.

And while I'm thinking about it, it's raining here today. The lovely soft pitter pat of raindrops hitting on surfaces and the smell of damp. Totally peaceful!

It's Raining. It's Pouring. The Old Man is...(er) isn't Snoring

Above is a National Geographic wallpaper photo of when Hurricane Allan hit Texas. I lived in Kingsville then and helped with the safety and recovery measures.

Hurricane Dolly is hitting the south Texas coast today. That's big news for Texas. Even though a good bit of our border sits on the Gulf of Mexico not that many hurricanes come straight into Texas. But when they do...it's a doozy. Since I was born in 1952, there have been 9 hurricanes affecting Texas of which 6 actually made landfall on the Texas coast. There is a nice history list of them here.

San Antonio is getting 80% chance of rain today too. We are the disaster staging area. The last few times a hurricane hit the south Texas coast it bundled into Mexico shortly after landfall. That's what they are predicting this time too. The odd thing about our area is the Rio Grande river is the border between Mexico and Texas and it rides straight down to the coast where Dolly is supposed to hit. A bit of legality here...if the river bed shifts so does the Texas border. Citizenship issues have come out of river shifts before. Between Weslaco and Mercedes (5 miles away) there is a flood plain that I saw filled once when I was a little girl. There are 2 dams in place to help manage the water rise but you never know. South Texas soil has a fair bit of clay in it and the water table is only about 50 feet down.

When I was in high school hurricane Carla came into town and Weslaco got enough wind that it blew a huge branch down from one of the trees in the house we lived in back then. My folks still live in Weslaco, about 8 miles from the Rio Grande River.

When San Antonio had their 100 year flood way back in 2002 all the water ran down to the coast and inundated that area for a lot longer than it did San Antonio. I have friends who live in Corpus Christi and when I drove down to see them Lake Mathis, that had been small with campgrounds all around it, was a huge field of water and no one was living there anymore. It stayed that way for over a year. A lot of Corpus Christi has bay water inlets and such. You can drive back a fair bit from the city and find water ways and such. So even if the hurricane doesn't stay long in Texas the rains up and down the coast are going to make things a mess for a while. Sandi was the one who reminded me that, because of the drought Texas has been experiencing recently, the water will likely stay on the surface and cause more damage.

As I mentioned, we pretty much expect the hurricane to turn aside and affect another country even more and those people will be really hurting too. So I'm praying for the residents of Mexico too. In some cases what affects Texas will affect Mexico too. Where will the people of Mexico go?

If the dams on the river break my parents will evacuate. They'll leave in their own car. If that happens I hope the highways are still drivable. My parents can also move onto higher ground by moving from their cottage to the main building of their retirement community and going up a few floors. That would at least avoid the water which probably won't get as high as Katrina's waters did. There are of course other concerns like power outages and clean water shortages but I think my folks are savvy enough to have planned ahead. Dad is a strong one for safety measures.

If this sounds like I'm fretting a bit, I guess I am. And I can't do anything other than keep my hands together in prayer and monitor the news. So you know what I'm gonna do? Pray, keep the TV on, and try to enjoy the rain that is going to hit San Antonio. I just hope my nerves over my folks being down there so close to the gulf doesn't spoil the fact that rain, normal rain that is, is my favorite kind of weather. All prayers for those along the Texas coast and in Mexico appreciated. Peace! & Hope!

Camera Play on a Rainy Day

It's wet and nasty outside. So of course I decided it was a good time to play with the camera. Things started off kinda awkward. I got some decent shots but only a couple were very share worthy. However, as the playing progressed I got a little casual with my aim and stopped trying to point the camera looking directly at the LCD. Surprisingly things got better at that point. (Shrugging shoulders - I've no idea why) Some of my results are below.

Because the weather was nasty it quickly became cause for a Fowl Weather Party.

Hooboo isn't totally happy when indoors, even on the nastiest days. Thank goodness today is above freezing. Here he is being the patio Watch Cat.

When he finally did come inside, Hooboo started a fight with Hyram. My scolding started immediately but Hooboo isn't impressed by this. He gets this Tired Old Man look and just sits there till I stop.

Hyram doesn't get up on my lap often so sometimes, when he is rubbing past my ankles, I grab him and put him there. It's sort of a game we play to see if I can catch him. He is so long that to let him settle comfortably on my legs I have to cross one knee over the other making an incline he will then stretch out on. Here's Rum Tum being a Lap Blan-Cat.

While Hyram was keeping my legs warm I decided to play with closeups. Here he is in profile. This is a bit blurry but he's less than 2 feet away. My pants are dark and I think the flash went off. Thus the colors are lightened. It's almost black and white.

Finally, I just wanted to see how close I could get with the camera and still have things come into focus. Maybe I should ask if you can guess what this is like David does but I think the label gives it away. This was taken from just over a foot away. It's a bit hard to see in the image the blog shows but may show up better in the larger version if you click on it. The part that is best in focus are a few tiny drops of water on the inside of the bottle. I just thought that was kind of neat. Enjoy!

Rain, Meetings, and Chocolate!

We have rain here! Yesterday afternoon, as I was leaving WalMart, I had to run to the car in it. Yay! I hadn't gotten wet with rain in a long time and felt totally like a kid again. Rain is cool! And we are going to have it all this weekend.

On Thursday as the school day was ending, My CT and I had a meeting with the Principal. She talked to me about the high expectations that they held for me. The feedback I gave her helped me clarify some things. Then my CT and I went back to our classroom and relocated the desks of several students whose behavior we hoped to improve by seating them next to other children.

Thursday night I called a good friend and talked about the challenges of student teaching. She was a great ear and had some good advice. Then yesterday I counseled with my supervisor who had more good advice. She reminded me that I'm still supposed to be merely observing and figuring out how this teacher does things. That's all I'm supposed to be doing...not helping...not interacting with the students...just watching. I can do that. I also need to remain aware that this CT is not going to be my friend and maintain a professional relationship with her. I can do that too. It isn't what I'd hoped to do. I learned tons from my last two CTs who have both become friends. I'm sure I'll learn a lot from this CT too. We just may never get to where we really like each other much. I do hope I can gain her respect. That's vital.

When I was at WalMart I found some of the things I need to help me organize the semester. I got a clear plastic filing box that wasn't too expensive. I really wanted a filing drawer but they were expensive. So I elected for something stackable and affordable. I also discovered the wonderful selection of chocolates that WalMart now carries. I was amazed and delighted. So much so that I bought 3 bags of dark chocolate and one bar. None of this was cheap but the choices were good. There was Ghirardelli, Green & Black, Hershey's Cacao Reserve, Cot d'Or, Lindt and a few others I can't remember. I aimed for chocolate that had at least 70% cacao in it. I've read somewhere that this high level of cacao is necessary for effective serotonin results. I'm not sure about that but it certainly tastes better. The Cot d'Or had 86%. Wow!

Morning Prayer, Carnival of Hope, and More Rain!

This summer I seem to be the person to call if you have either Morning Prayer or the early Eucharist to work as a Lay Eucharistic Minister (LEM). It thrills me no end to be able to help other members by swapping dates with them. So, today I get to do the Daily Office at 6:45 AM. Yay! That's always been one of my favorite ways to start the day.

Other bright news is...It's Carnival of Hope time again. Susan has the latest version up over at her place and I'm delighted to be included. Thank you, Susan! This month's carnival starts with community, segues into the arts, gives us some ways we can make a difference (and the joys of doing so), and closes with an article on growth and making changes.

The rest of the news is that, after a week of very warm (90 degree) weather, it's going to rain in San Antonio again. Yay! Even though this causes flash flooding in the hill country, San Antonio has had too many summers where we didn't get enough rain and went on water rationing. It doesn't look like that will be a problem this year. And while I haven't heard news of it yet, I wouldn't be surprised if some springs in the area that might have been dry or drying up are coming fresh again. This happened the first year I lived in San Antonio. It was a record year for rain and springs that hadn't been active for 20 years came fresh again. The apartment complex I lived in had a spring that came fresh. This meant that a steady stream of water was running from the spring down through the parking lot. It didn't destroy the asphalt but it did make a nice trail of green algae growth as the water kept the pavement cool and wet. So, despite any problems the rain may cause, and it can cause plenty of them, "Hooray for rain!"

Rain, Rain and More Rain

It's raining in the Texas Hill Country! It's raining all the way up to Oklahoma. There have been reports of flash flooding and 20 inches of rain in Marble Falls. It's raining here in San Antonio right now! Looking out my patio doors, I see water coming down heavily and being blown sideways onto my patio. The prediction is there's more to come. The images on the left are of Perdnales Falls, a lovely place in the Hill Country. The first one is of the falls at normal levels. The next one was taken 5 minutes later. That's flash flooding!

The stray cat living on my patio doesn't seem to like the weather much. The patio area is dry except for the occasional gusts of rain which get blown under the bamboo curtain I use for shade. Right now he is sitting under the rattan chair which is far enough from the porch wall that he probably doesn't get wet at all. He isn't happy about the weather because it is keeping him pinned to one location. So he is yowling occasionally in complaint about the situation.

I love rain. It's my favorite kind of weather. When it's misting I've been known to put on a jacket and walk outdoors. If it's drizzling I have no problem walking with an umbrella. If it is pouring down, as it is now, I do storm watches. This all dates back to my childhood.

When I was much younger, my dad, sister, and I used to do storm watches from our front porch. This was special unexpected fun. We'd put chairs out on the cement part which was barely wide enough to be a walkway. Then we'd all sit and watch the storm come in. First you smelled the water in the air. Then the wind would start to blow the tree tops. The temperature would drop quickly. Soon the entire tree would be waving in the wind. Occasionally, you'd see some lightning across the sky. That only made it better. You could feel the excitement in the air on your skin and the flash of lights was never the same. The huge strikes were awesome! The thunder boomed and you could tell how far away the storm was. Suddenly the weather held its breath for a moment and everything went quiet. It was as if the world was waiting for the music to start. The first raindrops would fall. Big fat ones widely spread apart. As the fall of raindrops picked up you could hear the tattoo on the street and rooftops. It would start pouring down and the trees would go back to whipping wildly and the lightning would once again crash across the sky. Now it was rain! Now it was a storm! God was cleansing the world! And you were there, safe and sound with your dad, watching it all happen.

When the rain started blowing under the eves we would grab the chairs and hurry inside. There we would quickly dry off any water and Mom was always waiting with something warm to drink. Or supper would be ready and waiting on the table. There were sliding glass doors on the back of the house so we could continue to watch the storm while we ate. It was an awesome time!

It isn't so awesome right now for the people in Marble Falls. There have been 11 people killed according to the news reports. I wouldn't wish that on anybody. And it seems as if the Marble Falls people are ill prepared for this type of event. This isn't a tornado. Those have warning systems and you can seek shelter in the center of your house. This is flash flooding (see above images) and there is no place you can get out of the waters way except for your rooftops if it catches you and that happens all too frequently. If you check out the news report I linked to you can also click on some videos that tell horrific tales of this. They show lots of water and cars that have gotten washed down stream, the most impressive of these being a stretch limo with at least 4 windows shoved up against some other cars and a telephone pole.

I admit this is sort of gawking on my part. Growing up in the very flat Rio Grande Valley there wasn't much flooding. Certainly not the kind we get in San Antonio. In fact, the only flood I remember as a child happened because the Rio Grande river overflowed its banks and filled the flood plain between Mercedes and Weslaco, TX in 1967. This happened because of Hurricane Beulah. It actually moved north up the Rio Grande river and brought torrential rains which flooded the river. Not even hurricane Carla (1961), which took down trees, brought that much water. My grandparents lived in Mercedes in 1967 and saw that flood. I lived in Weslaco on the other side of the flood plain and saw it too.

The picture on the left is a scanned newspaper image of the flood before that one in 1922. Among that group of men, standing up to their hips in flood water, is my maternal grandfather. It's one of the few pictures I have of him from before I was born. The building behind him is his Texaco gas station, the only one in Mercedes for many years. If you think you'd like to read the entire small town history report on Mercedes, TX, which that image is a part of, go here. The writing isn't great, it was a college report, but it's the story of my home town.

The rain has stopped outside. The rug on my patio is pretty wet. People are starting to move about. The cat outside would like to come inside. Too bad, he'll have to wait till I can get him to a vet for a checkup and bath. If more rain should come I will be inside safe and dry. I think I'll try to clear off space for a candle to light and keep me and the rain company. And life goes on. Peace, Hope, and Joy!

A very timid foray...

We so seldom see this much ice in south Texas that the effects of this momentous weather event fascinate me. If this is nothing new to you please feel free to skip reading this post. I won't be offended. Right now the ice is a new toy and I am a child exploring it.

The weather has stopped dripping but not the roofs and trees. The temperature is at 32 and so where it does drizzle we get a little freezing still happening. We are not quite through this yet.

I just had to get out. I made the excuse that I needed to check the mail and put a letter in the post. The walk to the mailboxes looked short enough and I told myself that I'd stop and go back in if the sidewalk was icy. So on went my long coat, my winter leather gloves and the shoes with good traction soles. I grabbed my cell phone in case of mishap and also a cane for support with the idea that if I needed to I could use it to test the ground ahead. I put the letter in my pocket. Then went outside.

The first thing I noticed was that while the sidewalk seemed free of ice the rails along the steps weren't. So the cane was a good idea. Then I went down and took a closer look at my car. Yep, it was covered with the stuff. Underneath there were spaces where some water seemed to be flowing. It was melting from underneath. I could actually chip some of the ice and managed to break off a fair bit of it with my key. This wasn't the greatest of ideas because the ice landed on the ground and made it hazardous. My neighbor's car let forth a swish, crack and the ice from his windshield fell off in one huge piece shattering on the ground. I wondered how long it would take before my own did the same. This ice is about 1/8th of an inch thick and more in places. Then I looked up.

Icicles are hanging from the building roof. I suspect some ice is also on the roof itself. The trees aren't laden though so perhaps the leaves provided some shelter. Walking along towards the mailboxes I see that a neighbor is getting ready to go out. We both agree that it is pretty nasty. I'm doing fine walking down the parking lot. Then I get to the curb and step up on the grass. Big mistake!

The grass is icy and very slick. It isn't solid so there are spots to get around the worst of it on. Against good sense I persevere and make it up a slope of ice covered grass to the mail boxes. I feel really stupid and am mentally berating myself while doing this. Why am I still moving forward? Once I reach the boxes the cement is safe and traction is once again good. I tell myself I will go down the ramp on the other side instead of attempting the grass again. In goes the letter to be mailed. My box only has one envelope in it. All that for just one piece of junk mail? I must be crazy. (g) But the trip has lightened my gloom from being indoors for so long. So I don't feel too bad about being out in this. I make it back down to the pavement with no mishaps thanks to the safe concrete ramp. Why are man made stone surfaces safer than the lawns and plants that God made?

On the way back I notice someone heading out in their car who hasn't done a thorough job of deicing their car. It still has icicles hanging from the rear license plate and bumper. I get back to my car, knock a little more ice off, and head inside. I'm happy. I've been outside, braved the dreaded ice and survived. :-) Inside I get out of my coat and gloves. Warm water from the faucet helps to take the ache out of my hands. I add water to the pot on the stove and am grateful for the steam coming from it.

The picture above is an image of an ice hotel in Quebec, Canada. I understand that staying the night in these buildings made entirely of ice is becoming quite popular. It might be fun to see one. I find it hard to imagine sleeping in one even if the bed, which is made of ice, is covered with furs and designed to keep you warm. Still, the people who live up north have managed to do this for many years and survive. Maybe I should give ice hotels a chance and add staying in one to the list of future vacation possibilities. I think that it will require much research before I can do that with confidence. Has anyone ever stayed in one?

Icebound insanity

A neighbor just went out. I watched him pour a pitcher of hot water over his windshield. Next he started his engine. It took several attempts before it kept running. He then went back in and got another pitcher of hot water. I went in and filled one from my tap. He used both telling me cheerfully that he had no idea why he was headed out. Said that yesterday he had driven with nothing more than a small hole in the ice for visibility. Maybe he is feeling as housebound as I am and just couldn't stand it any longer.

When you are icebound you figure out things to do or go insane. I wonder how our ancestors did it before the days of central heat and TV. I find myself spending most of my time in front of my computer, reading and watching the never ending weather reports which all tell me the same thing....that the roads are unsafe to drive. I wonder what my friend, now ensconced in his new home, is doing. He doesn't have cable or dsl up yet so I am pretty sure he is bored stiff.

Tomorrow I am supposed to be doing morning prayer and going to my first class for the spring semester in the evening. I wonder how long it will take for my windshield to deice in the early morning hour of 6:30. Better set the alarm back half an hour.

....and still more nasty weather

Three days became four. That was nice, getting to stay home for a 4-day weekend. Now, thank to the freezing rain, the four days have become five. Do I hear six? Can we say make-up days and no lost holidays? I pray that this doesn't last so long that they cancel spring break!

Insufficient layers. Warm pan. Fireplace. Cat!

Three days turns to four

Wow! The weather is so bad down here in San Antonio that most of the schools are closing for tomorrow. That means that I will be staying home. Wednesday is only supposed to have a slight improvement so who knows. Right now a 3-day weekend has turned into 4. Maybe it will go on for another day or two. Thank goodness I stopped by the store earlier today. I bought a whole box of firelogs to see me through the freeze.

In the meantime, I'm glad that the roads and schools are closed. It's safer this way. South Texans don't get enough snow or ice to know how to drive safely in it. It's much better if everyone, including students and parents, stay home. The city may come to a standstill but it could be worse. We could have loss of power, but we probably won't. It hasn't rained enough to cause the limbs of trees to carry a heavy load of ice. And while the Hill Country might have snow, San Antonio probably won't.

I'm still praying for my friend's lost cat. If the roads aren't total ice on the way to the grocery store tomorrow I will stop by and see if she has come back home.

Nasty weather

It's cold and wet outside. This isn't normal south Texas weather. We south Texans aren't accustomed to freezing rain. So the roads are kind of empty today and the wind is hurting our ears for lack of earmuffs. I went outside in it twice today to throw out the trash and don't really want to go out in it again. Fate isn't letting me avoid this. A friend has called and asked for help.

He has been moving into his first house this weekend and during the move his cat got out and is loose somewhere on his old apartment complex. It is a large complex and while he has had the cat for a few weeks I don't know if the cat knows her way home. So, I got out my cat carry case, put on extra layers of clothing (windchill is in the 20's) and have food in bowls to shake and see if we can coax her to come out and get taken to her new home. Wish me luck please!

Later...about 2 hours

Well, we didn't find the cat. I looked under every car, around every dumpster and bush and called while he went to the apartment complex office to turn in the keys. I had brought food so we left some in a bowl on the patio in the hopes the cat might survive and find the food. From what my friend tells me this cat has never been further than the bush at the edge of the passage way so it won't know its way home. If you want to pray for the cat please do. My friend thinks it is pretty much a lost cat now because it was very scared when he lost it. I'm not surprised at that but I am distressed. If he had asked, or I had thought to, I'd have offered my carry case to take the animal to its new home in. And the weather is getting colder. I hate this.