Points north

My three girls with me at church on September first

Let's start at the end and back up.

Well, not technically the end but by that I mean, the present. Sort of.

And that would be, Hurricane Helene and its ever-unfolding aftermath.

I am grateful and humbled to report that we had no damage to our property.

Our power went out during the wee hours of Friday morning but was back on by ten o'clock that same morning.

Our internet service disappeared shortly after that and was MIA for the rest of that day and into the night.

When TG and I went out on Friday to do some grocery shopping, we were shocked to learn of the extent of damage -- mostly downed trees and power lines -- in the neighborhoods surrounding ours.

Old haunts: site of Comiskey Park, where TG and I had our first date

Our major retail outlets such as Costco and Walmart were closed due to no power.

So many friends and family members throughout South Carolina have reported power outages, even remaining until today.

Audrey's and Erica's and Mike's households lost power too but it was restored on Friday evening, so they got off easy, much as we did.

It's devastating to see the pictures and video footage of western North Carolina, where our Stephanie lives.

Her family escaped any significant damage to property too, although their church was without power all day on Sunday.

For us it was the promise of a rainy day on last Thursday. I like rainy days so I switched around some plans to run errands to the next day, so that I could remain at home and enjoy it.

The forecast was for an extremely stormy night following that pleasantly rainy day.

We rode the CTA to Clark and Addison

As said rainy day progressed, I consulted the weather app on my phone and noticed that the prediction of a wild and stormy night had been removed, replaced with promises of calm and partial clearing.

Oh, I said. I don't know how they consistently get it so wrong. Oh wait. They're meteorologists! That's how.

(It's one of the few jobs where you can be ninety percent wrong one hundred percent of the time and still get paid.)

Anyway then I received a text from my dear friend Sara up in Virginia.

She said she was praying for us because she'd read that Columbia was going to get ninety-mile-an-hour winds during that night.

Whaaaaaat? I thought. Wait. 

So I consulted my weather app again, and saw that it had once again been amended to reflect a wild and stormy night in Columbia.

On Labor Day we celebrated our Stephanie's birthday

I texted back and said I thought it was more hype than anything else for our area, but that we would see what transpired.

Still, I was grateful for my friend checking up on us. I thought that was special. And she wasn't the only one.

At any rate the thrashing winds and heavy rain did come during the night on Thursday. Residents in and around Columbia sustained a great deal of damage and the power outages were outrageous.

But we found a Walmart that was open on Friday, and we dodged cars in many an intersection devoid of functioning traffic lights, to shop there.

If I hadn't had TG to do the driving, I would not have been able to manage that.

Learning of the devastation north of us, in North Carolina, was shocking and disheartening. I cannot imagine what those people are going through. God please help.

I have no pictures of destruction to show you in my neck of the woods, because I didn't take any.

Crustless quiche! So light and yet filling.

However, I can report that on Labor Day, we had a birthday party for our Stephanie. I made her cake from scratch.

Steph and Melly came on the Sunday before Labor Day and went to church with us that night.

I made all of my girls pose for pictures with me, except for Melanie who was disinclined to acquiesce to my request.

Melanie, who will turn twenty in December, is disabled. She does not take kindly to standing, sitting, or even being next to anyone but her mother and father.

No way will she stand for a group photo, hahaha!

Ahhh Melly. Do your thing, Melly. We love you anyway. In fact we love you more.

And I can show you a crustless quiche I made a few weeks later, in fact early in the week of the storm. Why crustless? Fewer calories. Low carb. And just as delicious.

Talk about filling ... a late lunch at Eleven City Diner

Mine had, in addition to eggs and heavy cream, spinach, ham, and Swiss cheese. You just layer your ingredients in a buttered baking dish and pour the seasoned egg-and-cream mixture over the top.

About a week before I had that idea of making crustless quiche, TG and I pointed our car north and ended up in Chicago. The entire trip took four days, but only two of those days (and nights) were spent in the Windy City.

The other two were spent going halfway and then stopping for the night.

Our Cubbies' summer is over now -- no October baseball for them -- but we took in two late-season games at Wrigley Field.

It was hotter in Chicago while we were there, than it was back here at home. But the evenings were lovely and it was cool and comfortable within the Friendly Confines, the oldest ballpark in the National League.

The Cubs won the first of the two games we saw, and lost the second one. A wash. But still thrilling, just to be there.

I was prepared with my W flag (at Wrigley the song Go Cubs Go is sung after a win, and many fans "fly the W" which is a white flag with a big blue W emblazoned upon it. I sang (yes I know all the words) and held my flag aloft and it was exhilarating.

Interfere with play and you'll have to go into hiding

The second night, my flag stayed in my clear purse and that was too bad but we still had a great time.

On the second day of our visit we visited another old haunt: Eleven City Diner.

I love this place. We rode the CTA several stops from our hotel and walked the rest of the way and enjoyed a scrumptious afternoon lunch.

Then we rode the train again back to our hotel and rested for a bit before that night's game.

The next morning we left our hotel right on time and promptly became ensnared in a backup on the Dan Ryan Expressway.

And not just any backup. A tractor-trailer had overturned in the road and there was a diesel spill. Eventually TG expertly exited and we drove many miles through South Chicago neighborhoods until we could get back on the Interstate at a point past the wreck.

Several more slowdowns and total stops plagued us that day and it was nine thirty before we reached our hotel in Richmond, Kentucky.

We felt welcome in the Friendly Confines

We were deflated and so tired and hungry but we got some food and ate and then went to sleep and all was well.

The next day we got started a little later than perhaps we would have if we'd not had the hard day of travel on the day before, but we made it home by five o'clock in the afternoon.

Audrey and Dagny had stayed at our house while we were gone, to look after my pets, and we were glad to see them.

We had shopped for souvenirs for everyone while in Chicago, but prices of such luxuries have skyrocketed, so we did not buy anything Cubs-related.

I bought three of these

Instead, at a big truck stop in Indiana, I got myself and Audrey and Erica each one of these Indiana Hoosier State mugs.

Something interesting about me and my children is that all five of us were born in Indiana.

I was born in Kokomo. Not because we lived there to live there -- both my parents and all of their people were from Louisiana -- but because my dad was a pilot in the USAF and was stationed there.

My children were all born in Northwest Indiana -- the Chicagoland area -- because for the first twelve years of our marriage, after our wedding in Atlanta, that is where TG and I lived.

Where did September go?

And no one needs another coffee mug, least of all me or my girls, but a new one is always fun to have and the girls loved them. I got fridge magnets too, for my born-state of Indiana and TG's born-and-raised state of Ohio.

We're so totally middle-America. I love it. Wouldn't have it any other way.

At any rate here we are back at home and since we've been home, in addition to historic Hurricane Helene, we have had yet another birthday party.

I'll tell you all about it later in the week.

And that is all for now.

=0=0=0=

Happy Tuesday :: Happy October

Comments

[Lori]

I am SO happy to hear that you all were unscathed by that horrible storm. It is just terrifying what high winds and so much ran can do. We had 60 mph winds here Friday and about 6 inches of rain. Nothing but a lot of small branches and a ton of leaves to clean up though thankfully. I am glad the Cubs pulled out one win so you could pull out your flag and sing go cubs go, I just wish they would have won them both. I love your photo's, especially the one of you and all four daughters. You're all just gorgeous. I can't wait to hear about your next adventures. Big hugs!!

[Jennifer]

@Lori ... hello friend and as always, thank you for your kind words. I'm so glad to hear that you and TBG didn't have significant damage. I had no idea the high winds and rain went that far north! Mercy that was an unusual storm. Yes our Cubbies did what they could and it's always exciting to be there. xoxo

[Maryellen]

I am very glad to hear that you and yours were spared the worst of the storm. My neighborhood was devastated during Superstorm Sandy and so I have lived that nightmare; it is very hard. On the positive side, how nice to have all of your girls together; the photos are lovely. My daughter and I had a special and lovely time in Ireland. I know you love cemeteries; we visited my family's burial grounds on an island off the coast of Ireland that includes the remains of family going back 8 generations. Our roots there are deep. Memories made to last a lifetime. I would like to go back next year but instead I and my wallet are thinking of a closer long weekend trip where I can get all of mine together to celebrate my 70th birthday. Happy to say they are all excited about this adventure; we will be going to Quebec City. Close enough to be relatively easy to get to and different enough to feel exotic. Got to celebrate life while we are here and able. Looking forward to hearing about more of yours. Onward.

[Jennifer]

@Maryellen ... WOW your trip to Ireland with your daughter is in the past! I was looking forward to that with you and I'm so glad to hear that it was a success. I would love to walk those cemeteries! Amazing. But going to Quebec City with your family for your 70th birthday will be so special! My sister Kay lived in Quebec for many years and she loved Quebec City. Yes I'm as I said, humbled and grateful to have not been called upon to suffer in this storm. So many are desperate. I pray for them all xoxo