Gustav. Although Hurricane Gustav did little damage to my hometown of Mobile, AL, it was enough to bring back memories of Hurricane Katrina. We thought we would get nailed by that storm. It seemed to creep just east of New Orleans as it made landfall. We suffered some damage here from Katrina. No electricity in Mobile in late August to early September is not recommended. But, we all know that we were fortunate it wasn’t any worse. This was the case with Gustav also. It was not destined to be the “Storm of the Century” as Mayor Ray Nagin predicted it to be. But, it did come close to toppling some levees. I prayed about this all weekend that if the storm were not to dissipate, that damage would not be significant. Those prayers, for the most part, were answered.

Business Owners. It seems that the business owners here in Mobile took this storm most seriously. About half of all businesses were boarded up. Most residents, however, did not do this. It seems everyone thought this storm would not be as significant as The Weather Channel warned it would be. Speaking of TWC…I no long watch that alleged weather service. I read about them in the newspaper. But, after their hyped and sensationalized news on Katrina, I become totally disgusted with them. The reporters seemed almost “gleeful” in reporting the damage in New Orleans. I have never forgotten that.

Power lines. I did notice a couple of power lines that came down about a mile from my home. Alabama Power was nowhere to be found. But, what I did notice is that there were about five children playing within a hundred feet of those downed power lines. You treat power lines in the same manner you do any gun; it is loaded and can kill. Those lines weren’t shooting sparks to indicate they were live. But, you always assume that is the case. I called Alabama Power to ask if they knew about the lines. No one had reported the downed power lines. I also let them know there were children playing nearby. Within a couple of minutes of hanging up, two police cars came up and officers made the children move off. I’m such a good Samaritan.

Finally, this was the first hurricane for my little beagle puppy and good buddy, Ralph. He seemed anxious as winds picked up outside. I think the most we got were 40-45MPH gusts, which are barely tropical storm force winds. Overall, I think he came through it ok. But, he did seem to think things were out of the norm. For once, I let him do something that he knows he is forbidden to do; come sit up on the couch with me. It was just me and Ralph as I had turned down offers to stay at relatives home during this traumatic event. Seems nobody wanted Ralph to come. The way I feel about that is if Ralph isn’t welcome, then neither am I. I just sat there on the couch, drinking a little wine, watching the winds pick up outside. I had the TV turned off as I had grown tired of the constant barrage of doom from reporters. We just sat there in the quiet of the room listening to the fury outside. Ralph started to whine a little as he looked up at me. He was scared. So, I picked him up and let him sit in my lap. He went to sleep there as I continued to comfort him during the day. Sometimes, even in the midst of the storm, you can find simple pleasures in life. This just happened to be one of those times.