Tag: houston

Beryl: Day 5

[Original post on this date: Another day, another thunderstorm. Another day of scared dogs.

Another day of no power. Maybe, they say, they’ll have it down to “only” 80,000 customers without power by Sunday.]

Since I’m posting after the fact, I may have been messing up which Mary Stewart novels I read in what order. It doesn’t matter, really, because the point is, they’re helping regulate my mood and stopping me from constantly fretting over missing my own characters and writing.


The Moon-Spinners is among my favorites. No telling how many times I’ve read it. It was made into a movie with Haley Mills, which I’ve never seen, and I’m quite happy about that because it sounds like a terrible adaptation.

Beryl: Day 4

[Original post on this date. Still no power. A thunderstorm cooled things off a little, but near 7 pm, it’s steamy.]


So much litter from the trees covering the yard. You may not be able to see it, but a falling tree limb was caught on one of the power lines, and Beryl’s winds did a nice job of twisting it up in a second line and then letting it rest on yet more lines. We think that’s the point when we lost power. When that transformer blows, it usually takes out five houses. Originally, that was the case, and most of our neighbors still had power.

But on Tuesday (the second day), wind or rain continued the chaos and our neighbors lost power, too. None of us had any idea when we might get help.

Nice title on today’s comfort read.

I enjoyed it with popcorn. Grateful for a gas oven/stovetop, because I prefer my popcorn made the old-fashioned way in any case.

Beryl: Day 3

[Original post on this date. Remain without power. Will add more to Beryl posts when power is restored.]


Today’s first comfort read from Mary Stewart was Rose Cottage. I’m sure I read this one, though it was like reading it for the first time. There was a sort of twist to it that reminds me of an important plot point in the Neverending Saga. I let the readers know pretty quickly (second novel) what most of the characters don’t know. Mary Stewart saves hers for the very end after teasing the readers with suspense.

Speaking of cottages, I dragged some big tree limbs and a lot of other branches off of Debby’s patio. As a result, she’s starting to make Fairy Cottage look a little more normal.

The daily showers are bringing the temperatures down a little. That’s more helpful than you can imagine unless you’ve experienced Houston in July.


My second comfort read was the Mary Stewart novel that used to be Debby’s favorite (may still be), Touch Not The Cat. A big storm figures into this novel, too. Timely.

Beryl: Day 2

[Original post on this date: Still no power. Lots of tree debris. Structures, people, dogs are all well.]


Yard, patios, carport, roof–everything is covered with tree debris brought down by Beryl’s strong winds. We’ll have a mess to clean up when it stops raining. (After yesterday’s Beryl weather, today we had a big thunderstorm.) The two terrified dogs have had their meds to help them sleep through all this. The other two dogs aren’t happy, but they tend to take their cues from the “relaxed” dogs as well as from us, and Tom and I are staying as chill as we can…without air conditioning.

Houston’s electricity provider is doing a terrible job of communicating.

Beryl: Day 1

[Original post on this date: Beryl came ashore as a Category 1 hurricane. Strong bands reached us before dawn, and we lost power at 6:20 am.

Updating via phone after the fact. Will edit these posts and share photos when power is restored and I can use my computer again.]


Street flooding from Beryl’s rains. Lots of broken limbs floating down the street toward the corner drains that empty into our neighborhood bayou. As I watched the water rise (it never came over our sidewalk), Beryl’s winds were pushing the water in the opposite direction of its natural flow. It was a bit mind boggling to see that conflict between land and wind.

Saturday Storm

Back in the pre-pandemic days, when I still had a job and also went to lots of appointments or took Debby to hers, I spent a lot of time in my car or waiting rooms coloring. These small coloring books (about 5×7 inches) were often in the magazine stands in checkout lines at the grocery store, so I’d grab one to keep in the car. I haven’t used them in quite a while. The cover of the one with the ice cream cone had a glass of water spilled on it, which is why it’s missing.

Yesterday, I was thinking before I wrote, and I began glancing through these. A few of the coloring pages made me feel nostalgic for things from my childhood, like Uncle Gerald’s weeping willow tree and ice cream cones (I rarely eat ice cream these days). So I chose these two to color. (I took the ice cream cone from inside the coloring book; the cover’s still on it.)

Back in my younger days, when at Baskin Robbins, I’d get a scoop of Jamoca Almond Fudge and a scoop of Mint Chocolate Chip on a double cone. On my coloring page cone, top to bottom, I imagined the flavors as: blueberry, cherry, orange sherbet, chocolate, orange popsicle with red sprinkles, bubblegum, strawberry, lime, banana popsicle, grape popsicle, mint chocolate chip, raspberry, and chocolate fudge ice cream–sort of like frozen Skittles in a cone. Today’s the first birthday of our grandniece. We were just texted a photo of her eating a giant ice cream cone that looked as wild as this one (and lots messier!).

We’ve had a storm today, with thunder and a couple of power flickers. Right now, the dogs have calmed down as the thunder has let up, and so far, the power’s still on. I’m not even sure this is related to Tropical Storm Beryl, as we should be getting the brunt of that in our area on Monday. This could be outer bands, I suppose? [ETA: Today’s was a different system. Beryl’s outer bands begin arriving tomorrow around noon.]

Coastal friends, stay safe, dry, and air conditioned. I’ll go back to writing as long as the electricity still holds.

Thunder and dogs


Yesterday, we had a somewhat mild rainstorm. I couldn’t hear a lot of thunder, but that picture shows yet another branch that fell and was caught between the divided trunk of one of the trees that lost several large branches in May’s big storm. I didn’t think it was that windy yesterday.

Another “gift” from last month’s storm is the recurring anxiety it’s caused Delta and Anime (Jack less so) whenever we’ve had thunderstorms since. I have a video of Anime’s reaction to thunder a couple of weeks ago that would break your heart. Delta reacts similarly.

In anticipation of there being two weekends surrounding the July 4 holiday, and knowing well the Texan obsession with fireworks, we talked to Anime’s and Delta’s vets (they have two different doctors) about their anxiety. They were both prescribed anti-anxiety meds. Yesterday was a trial run of that, when both got stressed over thunder. It took a bit for the meds to take effect, but they really made a difference. Delta found one of her favorite spots and mostly slept. Anime was a little more active, but I caught her standing at the dogs’ water dispenser, just staring at it, looking pretty much the way I do when I walk into the kitchen and wonder, Why did I come in here? In my case, that’s just a common symptom of being older. In Anime’s case, I felt sure she was stoned and wondering why the water was in a cooler and not a bong.


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