Rita rips through

What would you do if you saw computer models of your coastline--a mere 55 miles away--totally submerged? I hate to admit it, but I just stayed glued to my television in some kind of "Twilight Zone" state of mindlessness. I guess I would still be there if the weatherman hadn't said, "If you can get out, whether or you are in one of the mandatory evacuation zones, you probably should do it now." So I started unplugging everything electrical and packed a bag for me and my dog, grabbed several water bottles and headed out of town about 11:30 on Wednesday night, which was 2 whole days before Rita was scheduled to hit. It took eight hours to get to the edge of Houston (about 20 miles).

By then I decided to hit the back roads and head north on any farm-to-market road. I finally got far enough north that I could head west and then get into San Antonio by coming down instead of across Texas. It wasn't until I was safe at my son's house that I allowed myself to feel my feelings. I am amazed how well-honed my denial system is! And then I discovered that I had left my suitcase... argh! (Thank commerce and the great economy for WalMart.)

After the hurricane turned to Beaumont (a mere 90 miles east of Houston), I sighed relief for me and a prayer for those in Rita's path. Since Houston was on the "clean" side of the hurricane, even though we were on the fringe, we only had $31 million damage for the entire city instead of billions!

I came home last night--got home around 2 a.m. this morning, again by taking the backroads because on I-10 cars were packed like sardines in a can. One of my neighbors was already back and sweeping off the debris from the sidewalks, street gutters, etc. My other neighbor is not back yet and she has a tree that has split apart and is leaning on my roof. There is no great damage though, so I think we have been greatly graced. The college will be closed until Wednesday so I have two days to put things back and reflect upon what has happened.

The good news is that we weathered the storm.

I left all my "things" here because in the Great Design, I let go of things rather easily (it's people I hang on to, even after they have moved out of my life), but I have to tell you, it's nice to be home and among my own books and art and furniture... especially my king-size bed with the pillowtop mattress!

Prompt for today: Write about something you feared would happen and did not.

Food for Thought

Better Homes and Garden is having a Recipe "Makeover" Contest. Turn your favorite family recipe into a more healthy one and you might win Schwinn bicycles for your entire family. I remember the last Schwinn bike I owned. I got it for my twelfth Christmas... blue and white with big tires that logged many, many miles up and down the hills of Huntsville, Texas.

While you're looking through your recipe files, you might also think seriously about creating a family cookbook. Gather together those old family photos of everyone sitting around the table at Thanksgiving, or celebrating the Fourth of July in the backyard, or clam digging on the beach... you get the idea.

Telling the stories behind the recipes makes them all the more treasured. Are there stories that have been handed down with the recipes? How about a story about the cook? For example, my Aunt Jean had five hardy kids and a hard-working husband to cook for, back in the late '50s. She learned to make all kinds of delicious casseroles--the smart way to stretch a dollar in those days. We nicknamed her "Aunt Casserole" because we never had to second guess what was on the menu when we visited her kitchen. A photo of her as a young housewife in the kitchen is a natural illustration of the Casseroles section in our family's cookbook.

If you're interested in creating a custom calendar, visit http://www.bhg.com/foodandfamily. The site has an interactive 15-month calendar that features a healthy recipe each month. You can personalize the pages with your own family pictures and then e-mail the calendar to friends and family.

In the meanwhile, I'm going to log on to the site as well, but I'm going to enter the recipe contest and makeover one of Aunt Jean's casseroles into a more healthy one. The contest ends November 15, so I guess I have some time to de-calorize and increase the nutritional value by substituting fresh veggies for any high-sodium canned one. The grand prize is 5 Schwinn bikes, which I'm sure her five kids will thumb wrestle me for... assuming I win, that is.

Luck of the Draw

I have been invited to conduct a session for the annual conference of the Story Circle Network (slated for February 2006 in Austin, TX). I have named the session "The Luck of the Draw," and I am going to share with participants a creative exercise to warm up mentally and physically for the task of writing.

First, you have to create a card deck. I've created a 52-card deck for memoir writing; you can create your own. Get blank cards (index cards will do)--as many cards as you want to have in your deck--and write a prompt on each one. The prompt can be a topic, a slogan, a situation, a fad... anything to awaken the muse and tickle your memory.

Here are several that a student came up with:

Write about ambition.
Write about a trip.
Write about a favorite car.
Write about kisses.
Write about a sport.

Okay, you get the idea.

Here are the rules of play:
Shuffle the deck and deal yourself a card, or spread the deck face down and choose a card.

You MUST write for at least 20 minutes on whatever topic you got. Be inventive. You can write about the topic itself or just mention it in passing. For example, if you drew the topic sports, you could write about your memories of playing a sport in your youth, or you could write about an athlete you admire, or you could write about someone you know being a bad sport about trying new things. The writing assignment should go wherever your mind takes you.

Next time you feel like you can't think of anything to write about, pull out your deck and try you luck.

No pressure. Just draw a card, and then write quickly and steadily for 20 minutes about whatever comes to mind.