(Today’s “Tackle it Tuesday” is not about anything I tackled; instead, it focuses on the last bit of post-Ike clean up in our neighborhood, tackled by a wonderful crew of men!)
Two and a half weeks after Mr. Ike dropped by for a visit, Houston, Galveston, and all other affected areas continue to clean up their broken power-lines, broken streets, and broken homes. Even after so many days, it is still shocking to realize the devastation that was unleashed that night. As the Little Lady, the Hubby, and I “hunkered” down per mayoral instructions, we heard the angry wind crashing, biting into the trees that towered over our house. We wondered, as we heard the sounds of unknown objects pounding the roof, what we would see the next morning when the darkness evaporated.
The next morning met us quietly and simply, as the electricity had left hours earlier. No alarms jarred us from the bed; the scent of hot, fresh coffee was absent from the overall smell of morning in our home. The morning after Ike was both strangely normal and eerie.
Yet, we were lucky. Unlike so many who woke up that morning, we had a completely intact home, dry streets, and safe and whole bodies. Our damage was minimal in comparison to what many others experienced. We lost a tree, many limbs, our privacy fence, and, yes, our electricity. That’s it.
No, the past two and a half weeks certainly were not easy, but they were bearable.
Today, crews were in our neighborhood tackling the debris in front of each home. Since this is Houston, today wasn’t a beautiful autumnal day. With the Texas sun blaring, the temps hovered around 90, but these men worked hard nonetheless. When the Little Lady and I stepped out to view the progress, each man cheerfully greeted us, infectious smiles beaming (of course, the Little Lady was being especially cute and charming to them).
When they came to our own small hill of broken limbs and trees, they were not daunted. Quickly, the men tackled the tangled chaos with modern equipment and good old-fashioned sweat.
Soon, only a scattering of dead leaves was left as Nature’s testimony regarding Ike’s fury.
Now, Life in Northwest Houston is starting to normalize — right down to morning alarms and fresh coffee.
