Time to Build the Ark!

Yes, it has rained again.

Yesterday afternoon another inch and a half got our flood right back to where it was Tuesday.

 

We do have water now though, so flushing and showers are a go.

  I think we are still supposed to boil if we want to drink it. 

Gotta check on that.

 

Fence is still down and won't be fixed until the ground water goes down.  Weather forecast for the next week looks mostly dry, hot and windy so we are hoping....

 

Jim is waiting for parts to fix our weather station.  Wind measurement doesn't work and the rain totals may be off.

 

There are some interesting water birds wading in the field from time to time.  Different that the one's from the April flood.

Not Egrets. Maybe Plovers.

 

Pray for dry land.

John and Mary's Hellenic Adventure

 

Summer time and we are about to embark on an adventure of a lifetime. May be not a lifetime but at least fifty years.

 

Mary and John left Houston at 1500 hours Tuesday May 12th.

Not on a spyder this time but on a KLM 747.

 

 Our first stop was Amsterdam. We had arrived one hour earlier than schedule due to a strong tail wind. After two and half hour layover we boarded a 737 and departed for that ancient city of Athens.

We arrived Athens at 1230 hours May 13th. After by passing customs we hailed a taxi enroute to an apartment near the center of this ancient city. We had elected to book an apartment instead of a hotel. Booked through AirBnB at about half the cost of a three star hotel.

Our apartment is about 50 square meters, comprises a sitting room, kitchen and bedroom. Small but larger than a hotel room.

Today was spent visiting the Acropolis

and taking a bus tour of the city.

Regards

John and Mary

So, What Do I Know?

Jay has 3 or 4 pumps chugging away at least 12 hours a day (and I am SOOOO thankful when they turn off 'cause they are right outside my door, even tho I know they should run 24/7...still, blessed quiet when they are off).

 

 

Water is receding...slowly. Roads are reappearing.

 

 

Waves of toads.

 

 

Hummocks of grass clippings and mud.

 

Wear water shoes when getting mail, or doing a trash run.

 

Shore birds are back.

 

 

Several houses did have water inside, many more had/have water underneath their units.

 

 

Newspapers are being delivered to the office and piled up on the porch...go get one if you subscribe.

 

 

Most everything that was toppled is now upright.

 

 

Fence is still a mess.

 

 

We have water but are cautioned to boil it.

 

 

 

We leave the park at the least excuse...shopping, Dr. appt's, whatever...just leave.

 

 

 

If we get another heavy rain...well, I just can't even imagine. 

 Jay & Karen have got to be beside themselves!

Water, water, everywhere.....

1. Believe it or not these pictures are NOT from the April flood...they are from the May flood! 

Skip's disaster...

 The Memorial Garden...bent poles, shredded flags, downed poles...in fact every flag pole on the property is damaged or down.

Fences down, which took out our water lines.

 Basketball court is decimated, gazebo broken, lighted palm trees on the ground.

 Annie & Bill, you may have water...fence is down by you too. We are expecting goats at any moment.

 Front gate....

 Bill & Laura, you've lost some ...what is that called?  Sheeting?  Above your window.

 It's deeper that last time...up to our car, which has never

happened before.

We may have had as much as 80 mph wind gusts...duh, 'ya think?

 

 

 

A Letter from the Trail!

Dear Sue,

 

On Saturday, May 2, Catherine and our daughter, Jennifer, competed in the John T. Cooke Memorial Ultimate Trail-ride Competition Rodeo in Holman, TX. 

 

There were fifty contestants making up ten teams of five. It was a very large collection of riders and horses from all over Texas. 

While our team, "The Pistol Annies", competed quite well they did not win the competition.  They rode for over eight hours in rigorous and complicated events. The horses and riders were completely exhausted by the end of the day.

 

Catherine says that her horse, Touchstone, out-performed all the other horses on her team.

I have attached some pictures from the event.  The "Pistol Annies" shows Catherine on the left side of the picture and our daughter, Jenn, in the center.

Bob

 

Keep Them In Your Prayers! Clint & Barb...

 

Suez, Here is my current status. It is fine for publication on your Blog or where ever else you think it fits. I or Barbara will try and keep you guys updated as best we can. I am doing better, but probably temporarily.      To be blunt: I am in the St Lukes Cardiac Intensive Care Unit. Been here going on a month. Almost total isolation to prevent infection when I get a heart for transplant. I am essentially here until a heart becomes available or I die.   Only Barb can visit. I am listed on the heart transplant list as a I-A patient and will get the first or second one of the first heart’s that fits. I am loosing weight and trying to reduce my weight as quickly and as much as I can. As I’ve mentioned before, I am an attractive heart transplant candidate because everything works. I have no organ issues, bone issues etc. The heart is the only issue and that is rare I’m told. I have no coronary blockages or other problems with the plumbing. So, they will keep me here until they get a heart for me, however long that takes I’m told. Of course, things change in medicine and the plan has changed quite regularly of late. However, this is what we got now and what we believe will happen. Recovery is about 6 to 8 weeks in the hospital following surgery, another month to 2 months living close by with daily visits to the clinic and then home with weekly clinic visits.      If all goes well, I’ll move to monthly clinic visits and so on. The anti rejection drugs are pretty tough and require a lot of monitoring to get them right and keep them right. For now, keeping me here keeps me on the I-A status and puts me at the first to be considered status. Hearts are transplanted on the basis of the recipient being best able to utilize the new heart and have nothing to do with the order of when one signs up or anything else. It is purely on who can do all the things, solve the problems and get the most benefit from the very limited number of available hearts. So, I am in the best situation I can be in and have the best chance I’ll ever have to get a suitable heart. So, Barb and I have decided to do all we can to take advantage of this God Given opportunity I’ve been given. We deal with things day to day and keep a positive attitude at all costs. Barb has hired some help to take care of John at our Angel Lake Ranch near Columbus TX as she is out of resources by herself. She’ll have 2 people that will help John and more coming on as the need arises later in the process.      Will be quite a while before we get back to SP or anywhere else, but if this goes well, then it should happen later this year. We’ll see. First thing is to have a heart available that works for me. That is it from the Hospital and is most all we know. This is tough duty, but I have plenty I can do and plenty they are doing to me. Things can get busy here and painfully slow and boring. Barb can visit a lot of the days, but she needs to take care of John on Sunday and from time to time tend to other things. She has hired people to handle outside work and can get mechanical stuff done pretty completely. It isn’t forever, but will be a good bit of 2015. You folks take care of yourselves and we’re looking forward to breaking bread with you as soon as the Lord gives us the opportunity. Clint & Barbara

Radio News

From Steve at K-NUDE...We are taking a couple of weeks for a little vacation. I've decided to leave the radio station (K-NUDE) on the air in our absence for your listing pleasure.
In the event that K-NUDE goes off the air while we are gone, I will not be able to get it back on the air until I return. I apologize for any inconvenience.
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