From vacation to hurricane watch

Judy and I just completed a two week vacation out west (Utah and Idaho), which explains the blog break. Judy went on to Indiana to spend a few days with Julie, Matt and our grandchildren. As it turns out, her decision to extend her stay away from Houma couldn't have been more timely. As everyone knows by now, we in southern Louisiana have the eminent threat of a hurricane (Gustav) to contend with. Terrebonne Parish may have a mandatory evacuation in effect by noon Saturday. Terrebonne Parish is one of the most vulnerable counties/parishes in the U.S. to storm surge, which is the result of being on the bad side of a hurricane coming through. To illustrate, though Katrina was much closer to Houma exactly three years ago to the day, it was Rita that did by far the most damage because of the extensive flooding that resulted from storm surge. We are even more vulnerable now than before Rita, and this one could be closer, so a lot of local people are getting very nervous. Good thing Judy bought me a kayak last Christmas. And just think, Judy and I were picking wild huckleberries in Idaho's mountains near Cascade (where Judy grew up) with hurricanes being the last thing on our minds on Monday this week. What a change!