Of Hurricanes and Snow...

There's really no point to this post, other than I felt the need to write something that isn't dictated by a college professor.
I am stunned at the damage "Ike" has done in Galveston and Houston. Stunned! I shouldn't be, but I am. I think we all were prepared for it to be a bad storm, but this was incredible! I am grateful that those we know and are related to who live in the area are safe. Not all left, but they are all doing alright.
I must say, though, that I love hurricane coverage. It is among the funniest thing a news station can broadcast! It's not always funny, but it just makes me roll when those currently televised start blowing away. Did anyone else catch Mike Bettis of The Weather Channel go flying over a fence and into bush last night? Oh my....that was great! Rivals Steve....uh, I can't remember his last name, but he was a reporter for FoxNews...a few years ago when Dennis, Francis, or Ivan blew ashore. Again, I can't remember which storm, but they were all back-to-back (followed by Katrina). Anyway, he was doing his thing, braced against the wind and left us completely busted in our guts because of the way he started jumping around with "Whoa! Whoa! Watch out!" when debris started flying.
I think it was Francis, because a few days later that storm landed me on my butt at the barn. I was jumping one of the horses through a 1-stride and Francis proceeded to blow the second element down. Katie was carrying me over the first element at that time and immediately unfolded her legs. I have absolutely no idea how she and the flurry of poles her legs twisted into missed me, but it was a little scary. Poor Katie was never again fully sound the remainder of my time in PA, but she sure tried her heart out.
So, back to Ike. Ike surprised a lot of people. He was only a Category 2 storm when he made landfall. Galveston is well versed in these. Ike, however, was a monster Cat 2. I think we may see similar images to Katrina, though not nearly on the same scale. What I mean is that I think we'll see people who are stranded. For days. Rescuers have begun the search, but they didn't get far today. Tomorrow will give a better idea of how many stayed behind and are trapped by the water.
I must say that it was surreal getting out of bed today, though. We're not near the hurricane. We're not going to be affected at all. But yesterday was rainy here. It was cool, it was fallish. This morning was remarkably clear. Not a cloud in the sky. I let the dog out and glanced at Pikes Peak. What a contrast! A bright blue sky, purple mountains, and one single peak topped with snow. I realize there was about 6 inches dropped up there in August, but we didn't get to see that. It rained up there and melted it before the clouds gave way to our view. However, this is the earliest we've seen snow up there. Yet another sign of the winter to come? I took pictures, but am too lazy to upload them from the camera right now.
Still, it was weird. Here we were enjoying a beautiful (albeit cool) day while our neighbors to the Southeast were being pummeled by violence.
See? I told you all there was no point to this post. Ramblings of a tired mad woman. Who appears to be getting sick. Lovely.....