Pearls of Wisdom and Foolish Mutterings

Sobering Sights

Today is our 32nd wedding anniversary. When we got married, we were both such babies, April 15th was just another day to us. It didn't really occur to us that we were getting married on Tax Day. Not until people would ask when our anniversary was and we'd tell them and they would say, "You got married on Tax Day?!" Now, 32 years later, ask me how many times I've forgotten my anniversary because I'm so caught up in preparing our income tax. Let's just leave it at "a lot."

Charles always remembers - he's much better at that than I am. This year, he took the day off from work so we could go to Galveston for the day. We actually drove down there last night and spent the night in the historic Galvez Hotel, which was built shortly after the 1900 hurricane. It is a beautiful place - absolutely stunning. It's listed in the National Registry of Historic Hotels. The Galvez sustained minimum damage during Ike and reopened in October. Not many of the structures on the island fared so well.

Galveston has made a lot of progress in the six months since Hurricane Ike. There is still much to do. I told Charles, "the enormity of cleaning up after something like Ike has to be overwhelming." We took the ferry to Bolivar Peninsula to see Crystal Beach. We are in shock at what we saw in Bolivar. There is no green on the peninsula - all vegetation is gone and the trees that haven't been cleared yet are all dead - it almost looks like they have been through a fire. Compared to the thriving community that lived in Bolivar before Ike, there is practically nothing there now. A handful of beach houses have been rebuilt, most of the destroyed beach houses have been razed, but not all.

The debris that still covers the barren landscape is still massive six months after the storm. The cleanup that still has to be done is mind-boggling. I can't even imagine people having the fortitude to rebuild in Crystal Beach. But they are doing it. The infrastructure has to be completely rebuilt. That and the cleanup are the main focus still. I took picture after picture, each one worse than the last. By the time we turned our car around to head back to the ferry, we were speechless. It's so sad. I thought Galveston was sad, until I saw Bolivar Peninsula.

The power of nature is awesome. I'll post some of the pictures later this week. I can't believe we are soon heading into another hurricane season.

Contrary to what my entry sounds like, we did enjoy our day together. We've been wanting to get down to Galveston to check it out. Today was that day. It was sad, but fascinating. And it was definitely a day neither of us will forget.