Indian Summer.

what is the springtime-equivalent of indian summer?

a front came through the houston area tuesday night, dropping some much-needed rain and the unseasonably-high temperature. it obviously won't last long, but in the meantime, the respite from a too-early summer is greatly appreciated.

Greetings from NE Arkansas.

after leaving houston with the cats (3) and dogs (2) at 9 p.m. thursday, i arrived at my dad and stepmother's house in batesville, arkansas, at ~12:30 a.m. saturday. what is normally about a ten hour drive (including generous refueling/dogwalking/restroom breaks) took almost 28 hours as we evacuated. but it was the first 120 miles to nacogdoches that took the longest--19 and a half hours. at that point i realized i still had at least seven hours ahead of me, so i took my dad and stepmother up on their offer to meet me in texarkana. from there, my dad drove my equinox full of animals and i slept in my stepmother's vehicle.

i spoke to darin later saturday--he and the house are fine. power was briefly out, but back on by the time i called. minor tree debris scattered about the yard, but nothing too large. the greatest inconvenience was that the cable (and internet) was out until sunday.

the cats and dogs were real troopers for the ride to arkansas. i wasn't too surprised about the dogs because they love going for rides and have gone to arkansas with us before. i can't say the cats enjoyed the trip, but they did stop yowling after the first two hours and from then on only occasionally piped up to remind me of their displeasure. getting them into their carriers for the return trip tomorrow might be a bit challenging.

as i told my sister at around hour 15, "someday i'll be able to laugh when i tell my kids about taking part in the largest mass evacuation in u.s. history. just not today." i'm not sorry to have gone; if i'd waited until we were certain where the hurricane would make landfall it would have been too late to go. and i'm pretty frustrated with the whole "if you aren't in danger of flooding, shelter in place" line (which started shortly after i got on the road). sheltering in place would have been fine if i had an underground concrete bunker. but i have a 65 year old house surrounded by 60+ year old pine trees. if those things come down, they're taking the house too.

lessons i learned: don't leave home without a full tank of gas (thankfully, i had a full tank); get a car charger for the cell phone (my battery didn't run out, but i had to be very frugal); take advantage of every possible bathroom break.

Obligatory Update.

woke up this morning to disturbing hurricane projections. the latest noaa projection has rita heading straight for houston.

the cats, dogs and i are preparing to leave late this afternoon or tonight to head to my dad's in arkansas. darin is (currently) planning to stay to keep an eye on the house, but he'll go to the nearby hospital for shelter during the storm. the dogs travel very well (they love even loooong drives); the cats, not so well although they do typically stop yowling after an hour or two. i'll be sure to have lots of aspirin for myself.

we've moved all possible outdoor projectiles into the garage; the equinox is gassed and ready for departure. the digital camera batteries are charging so i can photograph house and contents for insurance purposes.

Obligatory Hurricane Post.

at present, we're planning to stay put in our house, which is about seven miles northwest of downtown houston. that plan is, of course, subject to change depending on what track hurricane rita takes over the next 24 hours. we aren't worried about flooding; we are worried about wind, particularly tree, damage.

we've stocked up on bottled water and non-perishable food. tomorrow i need to venture out and get more dry cat and dog food.

for good coverage of the hurricane and its effect on houston, check out the houston chronicle's sciguy blog.

One for the Record Books.

it's official--june 2005 was the driest june on record for houston. according to the national weather service, houston had .08 inches of rain at bush intercontinental airport (site of their official measurements for houston). average june rainfall for houston is just under 5.5 inches.

you know it's dry when figs are dehydrating on the tree. (okay, it isn't quite that bad).

Not Sure I Believe This...

but i dumped almost five inches of rain out of the rain gauge this afternoon.

And More Bucketloads.

this is getting repetitive, even to me, but in the interest of accuracy i feel compelled to note that i emptied another two inches of rain from the rain gauge this morning.

the snails continue their onslaught relentlessly. i shudder every time i think of all the mosquitoes that will follow the rain. they're already increasing in number. at least the toads are happy.

oh, and the rain is expected to continue through the weekend.

Overflowing Bucketloads.

at eleven last night i dumped another 1.25 inches of rain out of the rain gauge. and another three-fourths of an inch just now.

if i've kept track correctly, that makes 6.75 inches of rain since tuesday morning. i think this can be best described as "overflowing bucketloads."

And More.

at three this afternoon i dumped another 1.25 inches of rain out of the rain gauge. that was the overnight / morning / mid-day accumulation.

and it is still raining.

More Bucketloads.

another 2.25 inches of rain since mid-afternoon. and it's raining again.