Well, we're hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst. Of course, a lot of the trauma with hurricanes is the roar of the wind, the shaking of the house, the crashing and popping and it goes on and on. As of right now, the track of the hurricane goes directly over our house. I have this perverse curiosity of what it's like to pass through the "eye", but I think I'd prefer that it go a little east of us. We could sure use your prayers over here. Houston is a major energy producer for the country and damage to our refineries and energy delivery systems could cause some real national problems. Where I live we have no fear of rising water, so for us it's the wind damage that's a concern. For the people in low-lying areas around Houston and Galveston, this could really be a bad one. It is 9:26 AM on Friday, as I write this, and parts of Galveston island and coastal areas are already flooding from the surge and the hurricane is, at least, twelve to fifteen hours out.

I heard from E.D. Wilson by email. He lives in NW Houston and he is also going to ride it out. I can't tell you how much your concerns, prayers and best wishes mean to me. I think we're going to be all right, but anyone who has gone through this knows in the middle of it, you wish you were somewhere else, anywhere else.

I'll try to post another message later when we begin to feel the effects of the storm and know its exact landfall location.

Jim