I was very kindly allowed to bring Achilles to work. At one point, he positioned himself at the entrance, where he could watch the world go by.
Month: August 2017
Donate
Were I closer to the unfolding tragedy I’d donate more than money. From this distance, money is best – its flexibility means it can be used to melp meet whatever need is most pressing.
Awful, continued
Image from a Twitter post about TRopical Storm Harvey and its effects in HOustojn Texas. More text below photo..
This scene is almost incomprehensible. The water must be at least 15 feet deep on a road. This scene is repeated in many, many locations throughout southeast Texas. Thousands of high water rescues have already been performed and many, many more will come. So many lives terribly disrupted, homes, cars, jobs, businesses, livelihoods wrecked. More rain is on the way for already affected areas. Far southeast Texas and Louisiana may be similarly affected by Hurricane Harvey’s remnants.
The tragedy will continue unfolding for days, possibly weeks. Recovery will take years.
Your help is needed. I’ve donated to the American Red Cross and encourage you to donate to the reputable agency of your choice.
Companion animals, strays, lost pets, animal shelters, will also need help. I hope you will consider donating to such a group as RedRover (disclosure: I am a volunteer), the Humane Society of the United States, or another group.
Awful
This is a long entry. Facebook readers please click this post to go to the full WordPress post and read it in its entirety.
Being previously Texan I monitor events in the Lone Star State. While Canada is my home I care about what happens down there. The image is what what Texans on and near the central coast would like to see tomorrow. It won’t happen.
As you may know Hurricane Harvey very rapidly intensified Thursday and Friday and is predicted to move onshore tonight (Friday night). It is already affecting places I lived in, visited, drove past/through. An Aransas Pass condo I spent many pleasant days in and around is likely already badly damaged and may be destroyed. I lived in Austin for years; it may experience high wind, torrential rain and resulting flooding. All of the people I know there will most likely be physically OK; they may be affected by wind, rain, flooding, power outages. So I have a direct tie to this awful event and am deeply affected.
Harvey is currently forecast to linger near the coast or just inland for several days. There will likely be large areas south and east of San Antonio that experience extended 60 mile per hour (100kph) winds, 10-20 inches of rainfall (250-500mm) with isolated instances of 40 inches (1000mm) possible, unprecedented flooding, widespread power outages, loss of water/wastewater service and other services we often take for granted.
Many Texans will need help to recover. I encourage you to donate time, money, service to the Red Cross or to a reputable relief agency of your choice.
Animals in area shelters, stray and lost pets picked up in affected areas, and the organizations that care for them will also need help. Consider donating to RedRover which helps out after events like this (full disclosure: I’m a RedRover volunteer and testify to its good work), to the Humane Society of the United States, or to another reputable group you know. If the opportunity comes up, consider fostering. I became involved in dog rescue in 2005 because of the need created by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and have never regretted it.
Finally, please pray if that is your preference, or think good thoughts if that works, for the people and animals affected.
Honoured
Fitzi is illuminated, honoured, by a shaft of sunlight.
Wednesday is my scheduled day off from posting. I did not post last night, so this is a catch-up.
I may post irregularly for the next several weeks. Life intervenes. My next post may be tomorrow, or Friday, or another day. I encourage you to stay tuned, to check in.
Thank you to my WordPress readers who think enough of my work to make the time to click ‘Like’, to those of you who follow me; and to my FB readers who make time to read, like, comment. I’m honoured, and deeply grateful.
Sunrise, almost
The sun broke the horizon only a few minutes afterwards.
My view
I didn’t stress over viewing todays’ eclipse. Here is my view, via my camera obscura.
I will get a better view in Aprill 2014.
Dinner was served.
A recent dinner: Smoked pork tenderloin, smoked mashed potatoes, scarlet runner beans from the garden with red pepper grilled in a foil packet, and picked-that-day grilled corn slathered with a mayonnaise and sriracha sauce aioli.
It was as good as it looks.
Closer look
This sunflower fills the view. A closer look reveals a honeybee working the anthers, gathering pollen.
Gleans
A juvenile Northern Cardinal gleans uneaten seeds from the ground under a bird feeder.
previouslytexan 