The Hurricane, Harvey

I'm sitting here at my computer working on my quilt guild's web page and I am so distracted by the news.

I keep thinking of those that are in Houston and the surrounding areas. Thousands of people have lost EVERYTHING! Their homes, their jobs, their memories and some their lives.

We take our lives for granted. We go to work, come home, make dinner, watch a little TV and go to bed, just to wake up and do it all over again. We pretty much don't think about it.

But, what would you do if you woke up in the middle of the night with your bed swimming? What do you do first? So many things must go through your head. Where are the kids? What do we do? Hopefully, you have had some warning, but even with that what do you prepare ahead of time?

If you're lucky, you can drive out to higher ground. You've thought to pack the car ahead of time with the supplies you will need for the few days you will be out of your house.

But those in the path of Hurricane Harvey . . . no matter what they planned, it probably wasn't enough. You might be one that drove to higher ground, only to find out it wasn't high enough. You packed what you thought you would need, but your house is now totally under water and you have lost EVERYTHING! You have what little you brought with you and that is all. It must be devastating. I can't even imagine it.

You may be without documents that prove who you are. The deed to your house, your prescriptions, your kid's immunization records, these are the few things that first come to my mind.

The other things you have lost only come to you a bit at a time as you reach for the book you were reading, the sewing you were doing, the photo album, the home movies, and all those things that make your life, YOUR LIFE.

I know they are probably thinking they should be grateful to get out with their lives . . . but human nature being what it is, our stuff matters to us. It's not the be all to end all, but it is who we are.

At the moment we are helping to save us, our families and any other person that we can. But the water recedes and we are faced with the aftermath, no job, no insurance on the property and no place to live.

I am disheartened to hear on the news of landlords attempting to evict people from the homes that survived! They greedily believe that they can rent these dwellings for astronomical prices because they are still standing and there will be a great need for housing. Not just for residents, but for all the workers that come in to help clean and rebuild. Shame on them. Hopefully, those that have received these eviction notices will not go quietly but turn to the many agencies that are there to help.

The federal government will step in with "help" as always, but there are so many scammers out there both on the receiving end and the giving end of "help," I don't blame them for being confused and untrusting.

Here in California, I can only watch and worry about them. Donate some money and pray that, in the end, this will turn out better than other disasters. But deep in my heart I know that is wishful thinking.