Wednesday, September 7, 2011

A Fiery Hodgepodge



1. What is one piece of advice you would give a 'just turning' 21- year old adult?

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your path. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

If you can master this, life will be a whole lot more manageable!

2. Besides cooler weather (or warmer weather, depending on your hemisphere) what is one thing you are looking forward to this fall?

Hopefully, RAIN, RAIN, RAIN!!!!!!

3. What sound lulls you to sleep?

Piano hymns. I have a couple of CDs on my iPhone that I use when I don't feel well or sleep is eluding me. Usually by the second or third song, I am out!

4. September is National Preparedness Month...does your family have an emergency 'kit' and/or disaster plan in place?

Meet by the mailbox. And all of our important papers are in a metal box. Which I put in a more rapidly accessible place yesterday due to the fires in our areas. I'm halfway tempted to carry it in the car with me, since a lot of folks were caught out and about and didn't even get to go home when their evacuations happened.

Lesson learned by observation: Always take a change of clothes when visiting a water park. If you can't return to your neighborhood, you don't want to be stuck wearing a swimsuit for two days!

5. How has your blog changed since you started blogging? Or has it?

I had no idea there was such a thing as book tours, and I never dreamed I would get to meet and interview authors!

6. What's something you've recently learned to do on the computer?

The new Blogger template. My favorite part is how big the template is. I was so tired of only seeing a little bit of the post at a time and constantly scrolling back and forth.

7. Is a picture worth a thousand words? Elaborate.

Well, if it is, then I don't need to elaborate!

This was one of the prettiest drives between Austin and Houston. It is staggering how huge the flames are; look at how small the speed limit sign is toward the bottom right.


8. Insert your own random here.

Please pray for Texas! This picture of the huge Bastrop fire, which is 25 miles east of Austin, was actually taken from the west side of Austin, so this is the view from about 40 miles away. Bastrop State Park is essentially in ruins, close to 600 homes have been destroyed, and the fire is still spreading. Several more fires popped up around the area today.


From the Texas Forest Service website Tuesday night:
"Yesterday (Monday) Texas Forest Service responded to 22 new fires for 7,544 acres, including 10 new large fires. In the past seven days Texas Forest Service has responded to 181 fires for 118,413 acres. It appears that in the past 48 hours, more than 700 homes have been destroyed.

They have banned anything that could produce a spark. No barbecues, no smoking outside. It is a desperate situation.

Everything's bigger in Texas. Sadly, this includes the fires.

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6 comments:

Expats Again said...

Your photos of the fires say it all. My prayers go out to Texas. I have heard nothing about this here in Europe. I will be watching the internet from now on.

Joyce said...

Oh wow-the pictures are so sad. Are you being told you'll likely have to evacuate? I will be praying you get some rain and they get these under control. I'm sure it is very scary. Stay safe!

SusanD said...

A picture is definitely worth a 1000 words, but after seeing your pictures of the fires...I keep saying one - WOW! I had no idea it was so bad. That must be very scary. Praying for rain. Blessings, SusanD

STILLMAGNOLIA said...

I am praying for Texas. My cousin lives just outside of Plano in a huge pasture area and I am so concerned about her. Your picture is definitely worth a 1000 words.

Michelle said...

WOW! Your #1 says it all.

Your have a wonderful knack for meeting and interviewing authors.

Oh my, what a huge fire.
I'm praying for Texas.

Kathy ... aka Nana said...

I'm with you on #1. ;-)

Wow, you proved your point on #7. My sister lives in Austin and has told us about the fires that are not that far from her house ... but until I saw the photos, I had no idea of the magnitude of those fires. Stay safe.