A Wish For You

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

O Christmas Tree by Renie Britenbucher

Break Time!

Yes, I am on another break and will not be blogging for a while but I leave you with this ...

"Time is a companion that goes with us on a journey. It reminds us to cherish each moment, because it will never come again. What we leave behind is not as important as how we have lived." played by Patrick Stewart, from the film "Star Trek: Generations"

Curving gravel road through autumn countryside in Central Scotland
From website: http://www.wolforest.com

My Writuals

I was tagged sometime back by Elviza and was honoured to be counted as a writer in her eyes. I assure you I am anything but. Half the time, I do not know what to write about. What sounds good in my head is quite the opposite when it is typed out. That is when I imagine the reader having more interest in the writings of a struggling student in school.

Then again, I should not be too hard on myself. I have not been writing much because another social networking activity has distracted me on top of my other interests. My muse must be burnt out from multi-tasking in Facebook, my garden and kitchen.

So, what are my Writuals (when I am actually writing something other than e-mails)? Read on ...

Where are you?

In a semi-dark living room, TV switched off, with me sitting in my chair and the laptop on a stand in front of me.

What are you writing with?

The gifts of ten fingers (counting the days to arthiritis), a pair of eyes (which needed the help of spectacles 15 years ago) and a hand-me-down laptop.

(Everything's aching right now! yes, even the laptop - he acts erratically when I make him multi-task and expect him to process quickly. Typical male, no?).

What's the oddest object in front of you?

My pencil sharpener/holder which I use as a paper weight. I am not sticking the pencil in it. You know where it goes. :P
(I bought this more than a decade ago when I was working in Kuala Lumpur.)

What are you listening to?

Usually when I want to write, it has to be silent. When I am doing other things like banking and emailing, my TV would be on either the news channel, comedy channel or a current TV series.

Is there anyone else in the room?

My faithful four-legged companion, Peanut, that sleeps on the ottoman. Sometimes he shares the chair with me with his head on my lap.

What time of day is it?

To write - whenever.

Right now, I am taking a break from working in the garden - 5:45pm

What do you look at when you're looking for inspiration?

Outside where I see the road in a distance with cars and trucks zooming by occasionally on a 25mph street (where are the police when you need them?). Sometimes, I get up from my chair and look at my backyard. The green, the neighbour's horses and just the quiet of country life gives me some kind of inspiration.

What is guaranteed to remove your concentration?

1. The phone ringing - mostly from telemarketers.
2. The dog barking for no good reason, which is rare. He sleeps most of the time.
3. Husband walking into the room - suddenly I am not alone (don't count the dog, he does not speak!) :P

Sticks and stones will not break my bones

What have I been up to after the hurricanes? I am keeping myself busy in the backyard. When we bought our house, we got an empty backyard. But over time, we have added a storage building and a fence (just enough around the house so that the dog has place to run without being too close to the neighbour's horses - he barks at them when they are near the house). We are now working on re-doing the stone path and putting down a new layer of soil to cover some uneven parts. It can be back-breaking work but oddly enough I am enjoying it.

(These are pictures of the backyard, beyond the spot where I am working on)

Once this is completed, I am thinking of making some flower beds. This will not be anytime in this year. Soon the cold season will be upon us and some plants will not survive the chilly air. Yes, Louisiana can get cold in winter but not as bad as up north. :) I am looking forward to some cooler weather after such a blistering summer. Now, please excuse me, I am going back to the yard to play with some soil and stones (and throw away some old sticks I keep finding around the yard).

In the meantime, here's something worth pondering over (which I am sure you have seen before knowing how fast information is passed on these days):

Balance Sheet of Life

Our Birth is our Opening Balance!
Our Death is our Closing Balance!
Our Prejudiced Views are our Liabilities
Our Creative Ideas are our Assets

Heart is our Current Asset
Soul is our Fixed Asset
Brain is our Fixed Deposit
Thinking is our Current Account

Achievements are our Capital
Character & Morals, our Stock-in-Trade
Friends are our General Reserves
Values & Behaviour are our Goodwill
Patience is our Interest Earned
Love is our Dividend
Children are our Bonus Issues
Education is Brands / Patents

Knowledge is our Investment
Experience is our Premium Account
The Aim is to Tally the Balance Sheet Accurately.
The Goal is to get the Best Presented Accounts Award.

When Ike stormed into town

Top Ten Reasons Hurricane Season Is Like Christmas

Number Ten:
Decorating the house (with plywood).

Number Nine:
Dragging out boxes that haven't been used since last season.

Number Eight:
Last minute shopping in crowded stores.

Number Seven:
Regular TV shows pre-empted for 'Specials'.

Number Six:
Family coming to stay with you.

Number Five:
Family and friends from out of state calling you.

Number Four:
Buying food you don't normally buy . . . and in large quantities.

Number Three:
Days off from work.

Number Two:
Candles.

And the Number One reason Hurricane Season is like Christmas:
At some point you're probably going to have a tree in your house!

*****************************************************************

Though the above sounds funny now, it is definitely not when one is bracing oneself for a hurricane. As I write this (Saturday noon, 13 Sep 2008), winds are gusting relentlessly. Our area is out of the projected path but the effects of Ike's fury has reached out to about half of Louisiana. We are currently under flash floods and tornado warnings and watches. Ike is not only lashing out at Texas and Louisiana, 'he' is going to leave his mark as he travels up north, then north east of the States. The devastation Ike left behind is still being assessed. From pictures alone, one can imagine the loss many people suffered (see examples below).

One thing I find ironic is that some people knew they were in the projected path (or just some miles off the eye of the hurricane) but did not leave. The Mayors of Houston and Galveston issued mandatory evacuation orders for residences in low lying areas. Individuals who chose to stay back to brave the hurricane must either be gamblers of life, love their possessions more than themselves or simply had no choice (their job required them to stay, too late to escape or no money to go elsewhere). I think it is rather selfish of those who had the choice, means and strength to leave but chose to ride out the hurricane. Some were seeking help when the hurricane was approaching but search and rescue people could not get to them because of the intense winds. sigh (No, I am not going to say they deserve it. That is just too mean. I am just baffled. They could have helped themselves earlier.)

Anyway, here are some photos courtesy of Houston Chronicle (taken in Galveston).

For more photos, go here.

Update:
Here are before and after photos of another part of Galveston.