Reflections On A Busy Monday

I had a very busy day today.  Voice lesson, picking up refills at the pharmacy on base, grocery shopping, putting everything away, putting the trash out, cleaning the patio and porch furniture, watering the gardens and flowerbeds; just really busy.  But in a good way.
It occurred to me right about 3pm that almost a year ago, I was in the midst of another very busy Monday when the weather radio started going off in a big way.  I had just gotten the groceries all put away, in fact, when the tornado sirens here in Moore went off.  Away to the closet I went, with my extra pillows, all my flash drives,  all my electronic devices and my portable weather radio and good flashlight.  (First aid kit is already in there.  Had to evict the dirty clothes hamper and a bunch of my shoes, though. SOP for us in storm season.)
I was watching the feed from News 9 on my tablet, and on Twitter with a bunch of people,most of whom were wanting me to reassure them that I was all right.  It was surreal to hear that the storm was so close to my workplace and the homes of my friends, and was thankfully, NOT heading straight for our little subdivision.  Still, I knew I had likely lost a few favorite places,and I hoped and prayed I hadn't lost any friends.  (Close call, but my close friends were all ok, some of their houses weren't, but they were.)  Lost some library customers, and we lost our hospital.  It was a very scary day.
Part of what kept me sane in that closet was the "company" of concerned friends online.  Even a couple of celebrities that I had conversed with a bit tweeted that they were watching the news, and was I OK?  Was my house?  My dear friend in Australia, Fiona, was Direct Messaging me to please be safe and let her know what was happening.  I tried to send her minute by minute updates as I had information.  Soon as the all-clear sounded, I went out and looked around, and could report that we had no damage, and no debris in our yard.  The south side of town wasn't so lucky. 
It also took Matt five hours to get home from work because he was on the other side of the damage path.  He called me on my cell when he could, but he was locked down in a shelter at his workplace for most of the afternoon.
Needless to say, tomorrow is going to be a very emotional day here in Moore.  There's a remembrance ceremony and groundbreaking for the new medical center at 10 am.  Don't know if I'm going to go.  So many people's lives were turned upside down. Mine suffered only minor disruption, but I love this little city, and I love the people who live here and work here and make it a great place to be.  They hurt, I hurt.  I did what I could to help them by doing my bit to keep their library going on as usual.  I also offered any and all extra helps I could think of from sending FEMA faxes free (with boss's approval) and waiving fines when necessary, sometimes just giving them a pen because it was what they really needed right that second helped. 
It's so hard to know what to do or say sometimes, but sometimes, just being there and willing to listen, willing to help look for resources, willing to help, is enough. 
One year later, and the Warren Theatre has replaced all of its damaged neon, the hospital is a tent city, but breaking ground on a new facility tomorrow, many damaged business are rebuilt or rebuilding, many neighborhoods are still under reconstruction.  Some have moved into their rebuilt homes, others are still waiting.  Some haven't rebuilt at all.   
Whenever the weather looks iffy, people are anxious.  It'll be that way for awhile.  It was in '99 and in 2003.  We have new plans and procedures in place at the library to ensure patron and employee safety.  We have new portable weather radios in the house, and Matt has one at work.  I have a spare battery for my phone.  We still don't have a real storm shelter, but that costs more than we can afford to part with at the moment.  We need to have one Matt can get into and out of easily, and we don't really want one in the garage floor, where the gas pipes for water heater and dryer are so close, and the electrical box , and our cars are.  We shall just have to see how the next lottery for rebates goes, and how costs of an outdoor shelter go. 
This Monday was sunny, warm, and windy.  My allergies gave me a really bad time, and I didn't sit down once until time to eat dinner.  Still better than last year. 
Thanks to all my Twitter and Facebook friends for your long-distance support.  It meant a lot, it still does.  Thanks to all my fellow Moore-ons who keep on keeping on and make this little city a great place to be, in spite of the weather.

Some Observations

Can't think of a coherent topic today, so little pieces of things I have gleaned over the last few days:



Every inanimate object in this house that gets in my way, acts up, or otherwise thwarts me is of illegitimate parentage.  (At least that's what I tell the world when said objects thwart me.) 
Though, sometimes these objects and the circumstances surrounding the thwarting of my purpose are said to be fornicating. 

I hate rolly-pollys.  Pill bugs, woodlice, whatever you call them.  They came in the house somehow and died in their hundreds along the baseboards on the north wall of our bedroom.  I spent several minutes this morning removing the corpses.  I have also now sprayed the exterior and interior surfaces at the base of that wall.  I better NOT see any more rolly pollys.  (Chemical warfare is on! I have my chem gear, bugs.  Do YOU?!)

While losing weight is very good, and important for my health; when my favorite pants are TOO BIG, it isn't so much fun.  These were nice trouser jeans that I got on sale, and I really liked them.  Now I can't wear them, and I can't find replacements. Also, replacing clothing that no longer fits is getting expensive.  Matt has lost enough to be back in his smaller set of slacks, but if he loses as much as he intends to, we're going to go broke buying clothes.  A lot of my stuff will still fit all right, but his slacks most definitely will not. (I don't even want to think about how much it will cost to get new brassieres.  I will have to custom order because of band size vs cup size.  Been there before.  Not cheap or easy.)

The cords on vacuum cleaners, extension cords, and garden hoses will tie themselves in knots the minute you unwind them, no matter how carefully and correctly they were wound up after the last use.  It's some kind of law that you must stop and unsnarl them from themselves every time you go to use them.  The same is true of ear bud cords.  I am looking forward to the day I can get Blue Tooth headphones.

Now that I'm older, I notice it more when I don't eat.  Used to be able to eat a couple of lettuce leaves for lunch when dieting and not have it really bother me.  Not so anymore.  The stomach rebels, and I get light headed.  So I keep fruit and low fat cheese and crackers in the house.  I also feel the effects of alcohol much more strongly on an almost empty stomach.  (No surprise there!) 

When one of your friends has a great experience, it can make you really happy, too.  Glad to share vicariously in a friend's OzComiCon adventure, mostly because she is so over the moon about it.  It is great to know that someone I really like and care about is having such a great experience.  Great to see other fellow fans being supportive and happy for her, too.  No griping and jealousy.  Renews my faith in human nature.  (And my faith in my own judgement about people. Especially regarding a certain actor.)

Though I have been kind of superstitious in the past, I haven't seriously had "lucky" clothes or items.  Not until now.  I now have a lucky shirt.  (2 actually).  Both have the same artwork on them.  One of Michael Ornstein's paintings called "Blue Sweater."  I really like the art, and every time I wear one of those shirts, good things happen.  So when I need a little boost, or I want to maybe send a friend a little good luck, I wear one of the shirts.  Has worked every time so far! :-)  I am going to have to order a third one soon.  I'm going to need a smaller size! 

Two adults can generate more laundry than you would believe.  There are only two of us here,  yet I end up doing seven or eight loads of laundry every week.  (Well, I do have to separate things that need special care, and we do have towels at least every other week.)

My throat will be perfectly clear all day until I start to do voice practice.  Then every little bit of phlegm in the universe comes to visit.  Very glad I only sing for fun.  Would hate to depend upon this capricious voice for my livelihood.   Singing is done for the love of it.  For the soaring, ringing beauty of great music.  To share with others when appropriate, but not for money.  For money, I do something I also love and believe in passionately.  I help keep our public library open and running smoothly.  Getting people access to the information they need to make decisions, or just finding a good book to read for fun, or a DVD to watch is important.  Freedom for ALL to access ANY information they need is important.  Helps keep a democracy going.  Helps people keep learning and growing their whole lives long.

Things are still shocking me as regards the tornado damage.  Intellectually I know they are tearing down what was left of the hospital.  Still knocks me for a loop every time I drive down there.  My landmarks in that part of town are just GONE.  Still grateful that our large retail areas are intact.  City could not have taken that big of a sales tax hit.
 Extremely grateful to Bill Warren for building his theater so well.  It is a beacon across the darkened parking lot and the highway from the book drop when I have to go empty it some Thursday nights.  Always cheers me up to see the Warren over there with its old school movie palace design.  So glad I am going to get to go see Pacific Rim on Friday evening in the IMAX theater at the Warren. 

Got to see Pacific Rim.  Not JUST because Ron Perlman is in it,  and I happen to love his acting,(Okay, I love HIM, too) but because it is about giant robots.  I LOVED Gigantor as a young child.  Always wanted my own giant robot.  In this movie, humans control giant robots to fight giant monsters.  All that excitement AND Ron Perlman!  You can't ask for better than that for a great summer movie. 

That is about all the random observations that I can come up with for now.  I happen to know there is a load of laundry waiting to be folded and put away, so I'll be on my way.
Thanks for reading. 
As Ever,
Katie

Our House Is Now Catless

Once again our house is without cats.  Our friends have found a place to rent while their house is rebuilt, and our little refugees went home with their rightful owners this evening.  I will miss them.  I will NOT miss cleaning up the litter  box five or six times a day. I will miss Peabody "talking" to us, and Lulu telling us it's time to go to bed already, but I will NOT miss being walked on all night, and awakened at 4 am every single day for some reason known only to Lulu.

There's Lulu in the window in my office.  I will miss seeing a kitty in my window once in a while.
They have really been pretty good house guests.  They have entertained us, and challenged us, and given us a precious gift.  A way to help our friends out in a tough situation.  Knowing the cats were safe and happy with us meant a lot, I know, while Ralph and Julie were looking for a place to live. 

Here's Mr. Peabody lounging on our bed.  That's a queen-size bed, by the way.  And he isn't even really stretched out.  Imagine sharing that bed with him, another human, and Lulu, and you will see why I haven't been sleeping too well lately.  (Not just the excess Diet Coke I've been consuming.)

I really will miss them, but the good news is, I can go visit them.  And I don't have to clean the litter box.  Maybe some day there will be another kitty that needs to be ours, but not just yet.  We know we will never have a dog as good as Bear, and it hurts too much still to think about another dog, but another cat might be okay.  Someday.  Still won't be Skye, but might still like Opera.  Mr. Peabody does.  He came running for almost any Mozart I sang, not just the one aria Skye always loved.
Well, it's late, and even though Lulu isn't here telling me so, I know it's time to head for bed.
Hope all is well and happy in your worlds tonight.
As Ever,
Katie

Fear and Loathing of the Weather

It has been 11 days since my city was hit by a strong tornado.  People are still picking up the pieces, trying to find new places to stay, trying to get to a new place called "normal." 
Unfortunately, the weather does not appear willing to help this process.  They are threatening us with severe thunderstorms again this afternoon and evening, and especially during the time when I have committments and have to be out and about. 
One of those committments may be deleted if the weather is too active.  I do NOT want my 12 year old but in pristine condition car to be totalled by hail.  I will NOT get enough from insurance to replace it.  Besides, they don't make Focus station wagons anymore, and I LOVE my car.  It has been the perfect vehicle for me.  Also, I really don't want to be away from home if a tornado is threatening. 
I cannot believe that anyone will even keep events on the schedule in Moore if the weather is threatening.  Too many people are on their last nerve.  There is such a thing as too much stress. 
I may have to postpone my haircut also, even though it is for earlier in the day.  I just really don't want to be away from my house when the weather is like this.  We don't have a shelter, but if I have to die, I'd rather die in my own house.  I'd rather be where I know what I'm looking at.

Thankfully, one of my appointments this late afternoon was cancelled, and the other was moved up, so now I am home again.  I have the closet cleaned out, I know where the cat carriers are, I have the cats locked out of the bedroom, so they can't hide under the bed where I can't get them.

Now I need for Matthew to get home safely, and we will be all right.

The wall to wall weather coverage has begun, and I bet the Lost Ogle folks will be declaring the Drinking Game on soon.  It is looking rather scary out west.  Just hope they continue to go north of us.  This poor town is full of damaged homes and scared people who just really don't need the stress caused by this weather.
It doesn't help that the ever-clueless rail road is running train after train through Moore right now, effectively cutting the city in two and trapping a bunch of folks on the main east-west roads through town.  Only S 19th and N27th have a way under the train, and those are already congested areas.
You'd think they'd get their trains parked somewhere and their crews to safety.  The EF-5 in '99 threw loaded rail cars around like they were toys.

Watching what may be a tornado, or may not, going through OKC between us and downtown.  It appears to be north of us at this time.  

Back, and on my nook tablet as we have no power other than our small generator that is running the refrigerator and the home terminal for the wi-fi  We have no damage that we can see, and around the neighborhood, the worst damage around  here is fences and some dead (mostly small) tree limbs down.
Once again, it's GOOD to live in Foxfire.  Now, if we could just get the power back on, it'd be perfect.  There are undoubtedly lots of crews out working on that, but the outages are widespread.
Our foster cats have decided that things are just about all right.  They did greatly resent being put in kennels and crammed into a closet with us, our small electronics and lots of pillows.  So far, they appear almost normal, behavior wise.

I grow weary of the inconveniences, but then I remember that so many are facing so much worse.  I am very fortunate indeed.
Keeping calm and Okie -ing on here in Moore.
As Ever,
Katie

Overwhelmed, Grateful, Weary, Hopeful and Teary

That pretty much sums me up right about now.
I had a bit of frustration trying to get in to work this morning, and I am glad my windows were up, or the folks walking on the sides of the road might have heard some words that would have singed their ears.  The dude in the truck in front of me was obviously lost.  I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and say he was a volunteer looking for a place to park, but I'm afraid he was yet another lookie-loo.  At any rate, he stopped FOUR TIMES in a 2 block space, and I REALLY needed him to get OUT of my way.  I barely made it in the door of the library on time.  At least the cops had done pretty well at discouraging people from parking in the Library Staff ONLY spots.  Ya want the library open so you can use the nice restrooms?  Let the staff have their parking spots.

We don't have a whole lot of stuff coming back in yet, but that will come soon enough.   Trips to the book drop were an adventure.  There are several groups here cooking for anybody who needs fed.  The library parking lot is where the city set them up, for some reason. 

The photo at the left shows what I saw when I left the front doors of the library with my donated shopping cart (thank you, Walmart Neighborhood Market) to head for our "big green" book drop out in the circle drive.  I was sure there would be nothing in it when I got there, there's no way for people to drive up and put items in the drop.  WRONG.  There were several items in the drop.  Seems people have been parking and walking up and dropping their items in the drop.  They have also managed to find ways around the relief truck blockade and put things in our back drop that empties directly into the building. 

You can see the drop chutes in the far upper left of the photo at right, which shows cases of water that have been stacked against the back side of the library since Monday night. We are INUNDATED with supplies, and volunteers here in Moore.  Our officials are very appreciative, and are trying to co-ordinate between volunteer agencies and the governments of other cities hit by the tornadoes to maybe get some of those volunteers out to the smaller communities who were hit and REALLY need some help.  Not that we don't need help, we do, but those little towns just don't have the resources we have, and they are away from main highways, so it is harder for the media to find them.
People keep calling to find out if we are open. People come in, and are actually teary-eyed when they look around and see that their library is just like they left it the last time they were in. All the books and all the staff are OK, and still here for them.  I almost cried several times on the Customer Service Desk this morning.  Our customers love us, and we love them.   Mahlon, the young lady I was most worried about during all of this, came in today, and I hugged her SO tight. I've known that girl since she was one of our "volunteens" in Summer Reading when she was maybe 13 or so.  She's a college student now, and she is a clerk working at our South OKC branch.  She is a sweetie, and her mom is about the same age I am.  I was SO glad to see with my own eyes that our Mahlon is all right.  Bless her.  She was almost crying herself.  She's been worried about all of us, too.Thank God for Face Book and Twitter, or we'd all be a lot MORE worried about each other.
I do have a great deal of sadness, though.  Mr. Hemant Bhonde, a regular customer who always brought a smile with him, and left us smiling, was taken by the storm.  He had been ill recently, and not in as often, but we still saw him once in a while.  He always stopped to talk to me and Julie, and joked around with us.  He was from India, and worked at the GM plant.  He was also a volunteer in our Computer Training Center at one time.  He was a sweet man, and I will miss him.  I always smile when I think of him, though.  He left that legacy with his library friends, that thinking of him makes us smile.
Some of those children who died were customers that I can remember seeing in the library.  It is always especially sad to lose children, and it hits home even more when those children are ones who came up to you on a regular basis and asked for their library card number, or gave you their books to check out. Summer Reading starts soon.  There are now a few less kids to come and read with us.  We are all very sad about that.
 We are grateful for all the support and help that has been pouring into Moore.  It is very overwhelming when you are trying to do anything around our building or even our area of town, though.
Here are a few photos to prove my point:

 To the left, you see the view of our parking lot between us and the Community Center. "Big Green" is visible by the hedge on the far left of the photo.  The building with the large air conditioning units visible on top is the Community Center.  The cookers and the semi trailers are from a company based in Arkansas that has been here since Tuesday cooking and serving meals to whoever wants some.

 To the right, this is the view looking North on Howard Street from the library circle drive.  Those are customers' cars and volunteers' cars parked on a street that really ISN'T supposed to have parking on it.

 The photo on the left was taken from the south end of the drive that runs behind the library.  Those are the semi trailers full of chicken that the cookers are fixing for everybody.  I often jokingly tell customers on the phone to come get something to check out and pick up some free food while you're at it.

 To the right, you see the view out the West lobby doors of the library.  Brown building on the right is the temporary police station.  (New one is being built at Main and Broadway, will be finished sometime late this year, maybe.) Clouds and a highway full of lookie-loos.  Just what we need.

 This is the view out the staff door on the west side of the building.  Police station, Interstate beyond, and I think the farthest building there is a church across the Interstate.  Lots more vehicles than are usually in this location on a Saturday afternoon.

To the right is a view of the parking lot immediately in front of the Community Center.  As you can see, one of the fire crews had stopped in for some food, and an ambulance crew, too.  These folks have been working 12 hr. shifts with little or no downtime all week.

It means a lot to know that all these people just wanted to help our city.  Many just up and left and are giving up their Memorial Day weekend plans to be here to help take care of Moore, Oklahoma.
Many, many people have told me this week that relatives have told them they should leave, that obviously Moore wasn't a safe place to live.  They all then said what I've always said.  There's just something about this town.  The people are so special, even when they disagree violently with your politics, they still care about you, they still love you.  They look at you with tears in their eyes after something like this and say from the bottom of their heart "It is SO GOOD to see you!"   Complete strangers come and ask if they can help.  It happens every day here, you need something, someone will ask if they can help.

We are all weary of the weather right now.  Leery of it, too.  Those clouds out there were being viewed with great suspicion.  There was a slight chance of a thunderstorm here today, but any that popped up were far to the south of Moore.  Still, people are nervous.  I bet it's quite awhile before we hear our weekly siren tests again.  People's nerves are still too raw.  (And besides, they know all the sirens that are still here work.  They gave them quite a workout on Monday.)
We had people calling to ask us to check the Weather Service website for them.  A few were where they had no access to a weather radio or TV.  Some don't have smart phones, so they call us.  We are the all-purpose reference tool, after all.  (And sometimes it feels like people expect us to know everything, just because we work in the library.)  (We all know a lot of things, but none of us knows EVERYTHING.  Our heads would explode.  Seriously.  )

Those of us who were here in '99 have one advantage over the newer folks in town.  We remember how things were before that tornado, and how they were re-built even BETTER afterwards.  That's where the hopefulness comes in.  I know this town will rebuild, and I know it will be even better than before.  Our city government does all it can to help residents get the information and help they need to get their homes rebuilt safely, and the Chamber and other civic agencies help business owners.  Those of us who live here help by shopping at our local stores as much as possible.  We support the retailers that believed in Moore and put their stores here.  We really support Bill Warren and his theater because he has always believed in Moore, even though he's from Kansas, and has supported this community from the day he decided to put his theater here.  He builds all his theaters with severe weather in mind.  (It's because he's from Kansas.  They get lots of tornadoes, too, you know.)
I have hope that our hospital will be rebuilt, and it will be better than before.  Norman Regional owns it, and their newer buildings are beautiful.  We are hopeful that the new hospital will be one of those beautiful buildings.  I had an appointment at the hospital Breast Care Center for next month.  They have already called me to reschedule the appointment at the Porter Road campus of the hospital.  They were even able to give me the same day and the same time.

I get teary when I think about what could have happened on Monday.  It was really, really bad, but it could have been SO much worse.   We had warning enough for most of us to take shelter, the tornado missed our large retail stores (where there were lots of people), and the kids hadn't gotten on their buses to go home yet.
I get teary, too, thinking about how close it came to my own home, how we STILL don't have a shelter (partly my fault because a good one costs so much), and well, this is all so stressful, it is making a lot of us teary.  Like I said, customers come in and tear up because they are so glad we are still there, and the books are still there, and I get teary because our customers are all right, and it IS good to see them.
It makes me tear up when all the ex-pat Okies I know start raising funds to send to the relief efforts, and how so many tweeted and messaged on Face Book, and emailed and called to see if we were all right.  I get choked up when Matt hears from the barbecue cookers who want to come and cook for folks.  They are here and serving lots of hot meals to people who might not otherwise have one.  Matt has done a lot to get the cookers in touch with folks who may need them.  He also spent the day helping clean Veteran's Memorial Park.  I'm proud of him.  He pretends this stuff doesn't upset him,  "Shit happens" he says, but I know deep down he really cares, and he wants to help make things more normal for folks, too.
Another emotional thing going on today was all the pictures people are finding in their yards and bringing to the library so the folks who are looking to reunite them with their owners can collect them.  Sad, mud-spattered, some edges torn, some water damaged. Wedding photos, Basic Training portraits of young servicemen and women, portraits of children, somebody's photo ID from work, all little pieces of someone's life.  And you find yourself hoping the people in the pictures are OK, and that they'll be getting those pictures back soon. That's my prayer for my little adopted home town.  That the people are all OK, and that they'll be getting those little pieces of their lives back in order real soon.
And maybe the lookie-loos will grow up and stay out of the way for awhile, and then we can get somewhere on I-35 again, maybe the volunteers will get better organized and not park all over Howard Street so we can almost not drive through, and then maybe I'll be able to get to work in less than five minutes again.  (Unless there's a train.) In other words, we'll find our "new normal" and get on with life.

Two Poems Written This Evening.

Tornado Song

By C.K.Armistead
5/24/2013

The sky grows dark
The winds whip up
Then eerily die down.
The birds disappear
The quiet is unnerving.
Then the thunder starts,
And the winds whip up again
And the rain and hail
Pelt the earth with fury.
And the storm opens
Its horrible maw
And the tornado teeth
Come and chew up the land.
Sometimes only trees
Sometimes houses
And lives.
So capricious it is
About what it will eat
And what it will leave
Untouched.
One house completely gone
Next door, only a broken window.
Three times they have come
Since we've been here
And every time
We have been lucky.
Our house wasn't appetizing
To the monster.
But every Oklahoman
Knows the fear,
And watches the clouds
With cold dread.
All have warning radios
All keep the news tuned in.
Most of us know our neighbors
And will take note of who
Is home or not
Before the storm gets too close.
Some call and offer their storm shelter,
Especially to those with kids.
When the storm has passed,
If the outcome is bad,
We hug each other,
Count our blessings
Survey the losses,
And find a way to go on.
For we can't let the monster win.
Love and hope are stronger
By far
Than ANY storm.


 One Day Of Peace
By C.K. Armistead
 5/24/2013

In a world suddenly
Turned almost inside out
(In some cases, literally)
One peaceful day
With nothing much to do
But enjoy the sunshine
The birdsong
A good book
A cup of tea
Is a blessing beyond price.
Others do not have
This luxury just now.
They must sift
Through the wreckage
Of their lives
Finding memories
Mud-splattered
Among the rubble
That was once a home.
I wish for them all
That their peaceful day
Will come sooner than they think
With new memories
Waiting to be made
In a home that stands
With all hope
Against the Oklahoma wind.