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Happy Birthday, Elizabeth

Today in history

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Last entry five years ago today.

It’s Monday morning. I should be getting ready for work but there's no work today. New Orleans is shut down. Hurricane Katrina roars ashore near the city at about 6AM. She reaches CrabAppleLane in all her power and ugliness at about 7AM. The power goes out here and the anxiety begins. If you're a fan of big weather and you have no stake in the outcome, this is the ultimate event. The winds howl for about 8 hours. Trees all around the house are lying down. A tree trunk or a limb snaps every few minutes. You hear a blast like a gunshot when it does and you worry for a few seconds hoping it doesn't come crashing through your window or roof. Speaking of the roof, a piece of flashing keeps tilting up and down as the wind hits it. If it doesn't hold up, wind will be able to get underneath the metal panels. It holds up. When the storm is over, we have no power, the yard is a mess, and the phones are down but we're safe.

Almost immediately after the storm passes, we hear chainsaws. People are out cutting up the fallen trees on Highway 1083. CrabAppleLane is right off of 1083. We can hear the chainsaws until it gets dark 3 or 4 hours later. I figure they've cleared the roadway. There is always a tree or two down on Highway 1083 after a big thunderstorm. Hurricane Katrina was more than that so I figured there were 20 or 30 down. 1083 is about 5 miles long from Highway 40 to Highway 21. Those guys aren't even trying to clear the roadway. They're just trying to clear a path so one vehicle can pass. There are hundreds of trees down. There are trees every 10 feet. One tree sometimes but clusters of trees most of the time. It is an enormous undertaking. They are not done but they surely did a lot. What those handful of guys got done with their chainsaws in such a short period of time is nothing short of amazing.

On the south shore, there is street flooding in the places where it traditionally floods in and around New Orleans after a heavy rain. That's expected. There is an elaborate drain and pump system in place in the greater New Orleans area but it can't keep up with torrential downpours. After the rain stops, it usually takes a couple of hours for the water in the street to go down.

As night falls, we're in the dark. We have no TV because we have no electricity. A generator would get here two days later. After a major disaster of any kind, the reporting is pretty haphazard and, usually, wildly exaggerated. Remember the early reports of the San Fransisco earthquake of 1989, the early reports in the first Gulf war, the earliest reporting from 911? Katrina reporting was like that, too. People are calling into WWL (The designated emergency broadcast station in the New Orleans area) and saying some of the most ridiculous things that they'd heard or claimed to have seen. One thing was consistently reported, though. The water is rising. It should have been receding.

The water is rising.

I offer the two photos below that I took at work some three weeks after the storm. The city was still shut down. You needed a special pass to get off of the interstate. Once you were off of the interstate, it was the wild west. You could go pretty much anywhere you wanted but everyone except me was armed to the teeth. No one else is supposed to be in the city but people ARE in the city. Some are just trying to protect their property but some are up to no good. Many businesses hired security. These are not the part-time rental "mall" cops. They are very serious and heavily armed. The photos show both the start and the finish of Hurricane Katrina. The clock stopped when the power went out. About two feet above where the clock is hanging, well, look at the next picture.

When time stood still

The rest of the wall

I'm facing the north cinder block wall. The big roll-up doors on the east and west side of the building were blown in by the winds. Hurricane-force winds got inside the building and blew the wall out. Somehow, the clock remained hanging.

Five years ago: All Katrina, All The Time

It's Sunday. Hurricane Katrina is headed our way. She's a Category 5 hurricane and she is enormous. She's due to come ashore near New Orleans tomorrow morning. Most of the residents and businesses there have evacuated or are in the process of evacuation. We've made the decision to stay home and ride it out. Mom is coming up from Kenner to stay with us. CrabAppleLane is about 15 miles north of Interstate 12 and evacuation is voluntary. The area south of I-12 is under a mandatory evacuation order. It's very calm here. We're about as ready as we can be. We've been through hurricanes before. We can fend for ourselves for a few days. We expect services to be restored before we run out of anything. They always are.

Originally posted five years ago.

Hurricane Katrina

It was a Saturday five years ago today. I had guys coming over for a fantasy football draft on Sunday and I had a few things I wanted to get done around the house. I'd had a late night Friday and got up for the last time around 9AM. I was drinking my coffee and making some rounds on the internet when I got a call. One of the fantasy football owners was going out of town and couldn't make it to the draft. He was evacuating. Really? I didn't think it was that serious. As I was considering what to do about that, I got another call. Another owner, same thing. I started calling the other owners to tell them we'd reschedule the draft after Katrina passed through. After I'd made all of my calls, I started watching the news.

I'll be the first to tell you that I hate the dire rhetoric that public officials and the media use during these times. I admit it's a tightrope and a horribly unfair task. Warn the public but don't induce panic. It's like a bit of a twist on the "Cry Wolf" fable. The crier doesn't get eaten by the wolf, though. The town does. Cry "Hurricane", everyone evacuates, no hurricane. Cry "Hurricane" again, everyone evacuates, still no hurricane. Cry "Hurricane" a third time, no one evacuates, killer hurricane. I tend to watch the local guys. They've usually been through it before and tend to exaggerate less. The statements coming out of the not-easily-shaken local public officials and the local media was quite alarming this time. It unsettled me.

"Just evacuate. Better safe than sorry". We all hear that a lot. Evacuations are very stressful and expensive. Traffic is bumper to bumper as far as the eye can see. Will you be able to get gas along the way? Will your car overheat? Can you even find a place to stay? What will you take with you? Bear in mind that whatever you leave behind may be lost forever. We decided to stay. Most didn't. It is an intensely personal and difficult decision. It turned out to be the right decision for us. Two of our windows leak in horizontal rain conditions. I've never been able to find the source of the leak but it only does it during those relatively rare conditions. During Katrina, two more windows leaked. We were able to manage the leaks because we were there. Had we not been home, we would have had mold. That would have meant a remediation team, gutting the house, an insurance fight, and major upheaval. We were lucky.

We had another great FL vacation last week at the Waterscape Condos. in Ft. Walton Beach, FL. We went with Joey's family. Sue, Elizabeth, Christina, and I were all supposed to go earlier in July but I panicked back in June because of the oil, and we all cancelled that trip. Well, I'm sorry I did! Joey's family hadn't planned anything yet and decided at the last minute to go here so I gave in and said we could go. It was absolutely gorgeous the whole week! We did have a few tarballs on the bottom of the Gulf on one day, but otherwise it was perfect. All 3 kids loved the sand and the water. We had green or yellow flags every day and clear water on the first 3 days. After that it was a little seaweedy but it didn't bother anybody. I hope that BP continues to do everything they can to preserve our Gulf because I would be so sad to see this way of life changed!

The last picture is a picture of Joey's brother, Andy's arm. He was snorkeling in the Bahamas when he was attacked. He did not see the fish that did it, but said he felt something that was like someone punched him very hard in the arm and looked down to see that his arm was mangled and bleeding. He swam back to the beach (and no, he was not far off the beach at all!) and called for help. The doctor who stitched him up said that it was most likely a shark or barracuda that got him. He got 37 stitches inside and out. He has decided to tell everyone that it was a shark because "that sounds cooler." They were on a cruise when it happened and he said that he became a bit of a celebrity on the ship afterward. Everybody on the ship had heard about it and people would come up to him and start humming the "Jaws" music. They got off their ship on Sat. morning, saw a doctor, and then headed straight to FL to join us for our vacation. Joey and his other brothers rigged up a blow-up shark in our condo and when they arrived we all stood by the door and hummed the Jaws music under the blow-up shark. We just had to have a little fun with it!! He gets his stitches removed today and is expected to be just fine.

Fort Walton Beach, Florida - 2010

On this day – July 24

1948 Saw “Romance on the High Seas” again.
1949 Bought dress pattern and brown corduroy.
1950 Johnny and Bill came over.
1952 Went to Pop Concert with Jim Bridges.
1957 Robbie says da-da.
1958 Gave Robbie a haircut.
1959 Saw “Cat on Hot Tin Roof” and “Buccaneer.”
1960 Patrick James, Jr. born. 8 lbs 6 oz. Had a perm at
Josie's. Real fuzzy – Daddy called me “Orphan Annie.”
1961 Katie's naval cord dropped off – 13 days old.
1985 Bought girls Swatch watches, school shoes, and sox.
1987 Blood pressure 110/70; pulse 68.
1988 Braces for Angela and Christina.
1989 Picnic at Katie's for birthday boys Lars and Stephen.
1990 Had sigmoidoscopy. Everything is good.

Cubed Flowers - July 17, 2010

You sent me a lovely bouquet of flowers in a cube because of something I said about how beautiful arrangements can be in a cube. Well, I got this lovely dozen roses for $8.00 at a local grocery store and they look stunning in my new vase!

Thanks again!
Katie

Happy Birthday, Laura

Have a day!

June 10 Fun Facts

This past weekend, Ashley and Nicole (and Dan) surprised me w/ a Segway tour in Minneapolis as an early birthday present. It was so much fun. At first, I thought for sure I was gonna fall and break my neck. However, after a bit of instruction and some practice time, we all got the hang of it and it was easy. We went to the Stone Arch Bridge, to the Mill City museum (just on the outside), the river walk area then over the Hennepin Avenue bridge to Boom Island, Nicollet Island and back to the Segway store. It was about a 2½ hour event. We got rained on a bit, but all in all it was a fabulous way to spend an afternoon. Next time anyone is looking for a fun tourist thing to do, I recommend the Magical History Tour. Just go to www.humanonastick.com. We celebrated my birthday with brunch before the tour w/ our friends Andy, Erin and Andy’s dad Sid. It was a great morning to sit outside and enjoy brunch (at Lord Fletcher’s on Lake Minnetonka). Dan also surprised me with a new bicycle. I have been lookin’ at buying one for a while as my old one was over 20 years old. Now to get the June rains to subside so I can get out and try it. All in all a fabulous 40 something birthday.

Fashion on a Segway

We had a crawfish boil on Sunday to celebrate Savannah's birthday. She didn't get any crawfish but she loved her cake. When we took the family picture, she reached out and grabbed her cake. I just wasn't quick enough to keep her out of it! So we quickly sang and then let her dive into the little cake I had for her. She's walking and talking! She says "baby" and "hi" along with "mama and dada." She has hit all of her milestones before her brothers did. However, they were much better sleepers and I'll take that any day over advanced talking and walking!

The boys took swimming lessons all last week and are doing great in the water. Savannah and I got to get in with them every day and she loved it! She's a little fish. She kicks when you tell her to and looks like an adorable little frog!

Savannah Marie is 1year old

I can't believe my baby is 2! He was born the day after Mother's Day two years ago. I was on bed rest so didn't get to go to Katie's house to celebrate. Instead, Phil baked a ham and macaroni and invited his mom and sister over to celebrate with us. My water broke early the next morning, 8 weeks premature. He had some developmental delays, all attributed to his prematurity and we were told not to worry because he should catch up by the time he turns 2 and for the most part he has. I can't wait to take him for his 2 year old check up to see how much he weighs. He didn't make the "normal" growth chart until he was 18 months old and even then he was only 5th percentile. I have no idea how much he weighs, it's been a really long time since he's seen a doctor. I guess I will forever share Mother's Day with him and eventually his birthday will probably be on Mother's Day. This year it's not until Wednesday (the 12th) but I'm not sure how we'll mark it since he's already blown out his candle and opened his presents! I would like to get a picture of him with a 2 year old sign but he's not very cooperative for the camera so we'll see.

We had everyone over here to celebrate. Phil grilled burgers and we had a seven layer dip, corn salsa, cream cheese with pepper jelly on it, and a fruit salad. The cake was from our favorite ice cream shop, Coldstone Creamery. Katie brought some of her delicious potato salad and Amy made cucumber salad. It was a delicious spread of food and a lot of fun to have everyone here. Jackson gave us a concert with his electric guitar. He's really starting to be a good player. Angela was here with just Samuel and Savannah, Joey stayed home with a sick Luke. David Clayton joined us after work. We had great weather and it was a really nice day

Jude's 2nd Birthday and Mother's Day 2010

Jude's 2nd Birthday and Mother's Day 2010

We celebrated Wyatt's birthday on May 1st at our house. I was amazed that a year had passed so quickly. The events of April 30, 2009 are so vividly etched in my mind that it seemed impossible for little Wyatt to already be celebrating his first birthday. A year ago, we were at Patrick's 16th birthday party when I was pretty certain that I was in labor. I thought I did a good job of keeping my feelings secret but Grandma Ferrara (in town for Patrick's confirmation and birthday) read my body language and knew something was up. When we got home from the party that night I let Stephen know what was going on and Wyatt was born during the early hours of the 30th...just in time for Grandma to see him before she caught her flight back to New Orleans.

Wyatt wore a little birthday outfit that was passed down to me from Christina (I believe) and he looked adorable. We had some dips for appetizers and Texas BBQ with fries for dinner. My sister's girls were here for the party and all of the toddlers ate at the "kiddie table." Nonnie volunteered to make Wyatt's birthday cake and it turned out perfect! She recently took a cake decorating class with her friend Delphine and as you can see, it paid off. I was so grateful and the cake looked fantastic.

Wyatt did very well opening and sharing his gifts with his 2 year old brother. Barrett inherently proclaimed, "MINE!" after each gift was opened. He thought for sure that all of those things must be for him.

Wyatt devoured his cake like a champ. He knew exactly what to do and all but inhaled the piece he was given. I am planning to investigate what he has been eating at Miss Beverly's.

Wyatt is excited about all of his new toys and books...we just have to keep Barrett at bay so Wyatt can enjoy them. Ugh!

Wyatt's First Birthday

Wyatt's First Birthday

Happy Birthday, Sue

Have a day!

April 14 Fun Facts

Last weekend we celebrated Easter at Dan's parents' home in Walker, MN. Mom and Dad joined as they live only 40 minutes from Dan's parents' home. The day was a beautiful spring day. Here are a couple photos from the day. Then on Tuesday I took Nicole back to school (in St. Paul,MN). Ollie (aka Oliver) decided he'd like to try out college life (but I had to make him stay home). Here's a photo of that goofy dog.
Carol

Nicole,Ashley & Grandma & Grandpa Bye

Nicole,Ashley & Grandma & Grandpa Bye

Ollie wants to go back to school with Nicole

Silly Sisters