The Morning After

Well, today we are no longer "West Enders" and are about to move on. It is amazing that we sold the beach house in a matter of days. I cannot thank Peter at Century 21 Bayreef for his expert pricing and hard work marketing our home. I cannot believe we sold it while we were at closing for the lake house! Goodbye for now~ Linda

Every Good Blog Must Come to an End

It's been a while since my last post. Things have been busy around the Farm and the Beach House. At this point, I need to bring my beach neighbor, Jane into this story. Jane moved a house that was on the verge of going into the ocean some several years ago. She landed next to our house and is a happy and fun neighbor to have. Sometime after the storm, we were talking "porch to porch" [we are in close proximity to neighbors] and I mentioned to Jane that after 30 years, I was ready to move from salt water to fresh via a lake house. To make a long story shorter, Jane told me that she and Howard had a lake house north of Cleveland. I asked a few more questions and the seed was planted. Some months of pestering Allen later, we took a drive there and looked around. It is beautiful. A small 100 acre spring fed private lake with lots of trees and rolling hills was all that I needed to see. Well, that and we found Jane in her front yard. We went down to her waterfront and then Allen was convinced, too! In the past year, we looked at the few homes that were for sale and then it happened....a house came up for sale on almost an acre of waterfront that beckoned us to buy. So, this house is now ours and the end of this blog is at hand. We contacted Peter at Century 21 Real Estate who took one look at our beach house and promptly sold it! Literally. We close on this sale tomorrow and then move on to the renovation of the lake house. It is sad to leave Galveston after 30 some years and I doubt that my sis will ever forgive us! We had some great times here but it is time to move on with another adventure. I'll be starting that blog soon and will post the link here.

A day in August

Nearly a year has passed since the storm and many parts of the island are back together again. Some are not. The structures stand like sentinels warning to learn from the past. As I type this, Allen has sprayed the front yard with water and is driving my SUV back and forth to pack down the sand so that vegetation can spread. It's a funny activity and the dogs bark like he is just arriving home with each pass. The neighborhood is back to some sort of new normalcy. People populate the beach and swimmers abound on the weekends. The view from the deck is priceless; like one that you'd see in Cancun or Corpus Christi. The ocean is delightfully warm to swim in and fresh shrimp and crab abound on town restaurant menus. For now, life is relaxing and time spent here is etched in our memories and filed under "the best of times". It's been that way for us for 30 years or so.

Baby steps toward somewhere that might be normal [or sort of]

We look pretty happy in the image shown. We're glad for lights, and we did get an electrician to run the power for the "grinder thing". Plumbers must have become some sort of elusive or endangered species. We have to have one to hook up the grinder and the water source. In the meantime, we are biding our time, paying the bills and hoping for the sun to continue to shine.

Aftermath extends into nowhere fast...

Ok! Now the lights are on but the toilets are not to be flushed. Actually, truth to be known, it will cost about $7000 to get a "grinder" bought and installed to do the job. Humiliating and exasperating. That's what I get for complaining about the lights! We've been by the house and washed floors clean of sheetrock dust as well as moving in some furniture. Our view is breath taking! Allen is working hard to get everything back to "sort of" normal. Hopefully in the next month or so, we'll hear a welcome sound of rushing water from taps and toilet!

The city has decided that we are obligated to pay the $60 monthly minimum for water, sewer and trash despite the fact that we have none of these services. Water is technically hooked up to the house but we can't turn it on. No grinder, no water. Just pay the money.

Outside...well, we have nice sand dunes in the front yard that are starting to cover the ABOVE ground water pipes. It's a matter of time before someone runs over them. There is a promise of green from the grasses sprouting on the yard. Our little circle is looking very nice but to the east and west of us, the homes stand like sentinels of the devastation of Ike.
It's a reminder of what we all face out here.

Would someone PLEASE turn on the lights??

No picture to show today. If I did, it would be of my neighbor, Jane's house as there is terminal confusion as to which light meter belongs at what address. I understand that for the past 30 years, our electric meter has not matched our address. It never has! Now getting this corrected to actually have the power turned on is another bloomin' matter! When we had our electrical work done a few years back, our electrician had to put up different house numbers on our facade to get the power turned back on. This time; not so easy. Centerpoint and Reliant really don't communicate to each other and thus, our finished, refurbished, repaired and beautified house is the only one on our street without power! Heck, they even sent me Jane's electric bill and she HAS power. So, someone remind me when I get to finally come back...Will someone turn the lights on PLEASE?

Thanksgiving 2008

It's been a while since I have written. We've been busy getting our lives and our beach house back together. We are lucky, grateful and nearing completion of our repairs. This 30 year old house proved sturdy with only "cosmetic" repairs. Nothing structural to be dealt with. Speaking of grateful, I would have to add that our contractor, Luby has been easy to work with and made our lives better for knowing him. We decided to ditch having carpet in the house and did a considerable upgrade to more practical ceramic tile. We'll go down this weekend to see how it all turned out. Only a replacement door is on our list of "to do". It would seem that most of the off island world has forgotten about this storm and how Galveston is struggling to get back to some sort of normal day to day life. City government is angering many with their meager knowledge of what to do with it all. I think that many will leave.

Then, there is that nagging gambling issue. Some islanders think that this will make it all better. If one would visit Atlantic City and see the neighborhoods and the problems, maybe it would change one's mind. Gambling never decreased crime, promoted a strong family lifestyle or worked to a community's betterment. I've never heard anyone say that a casino made their neighborhood better or lives enriched. I have heard of gambling addictions and the problems that engulf cities that have the casinos from crime to zoning. It won't help Galveston. I can only hope that it stays away from here or at least from the beach! We have enough on our plates.