August 28 – “Boring the Lord?”

Well, I started another post much earlier this morning, but I was apparently boring the Lord with it.  Around 6:44 the power went out, and it has been raining here on Gilligan’s Island ever since.  I called the power company right away to make sure we got on their list.  The computer assured me it would leave a message for some human beings to come fix things.  Not very assuring.  Nathan stopped by after he dropped Cailyn off at school.  They still had power, I suppose.  He told us they had just come from the Donut Shop, and on their way there they watched a transformer blow up behind WalMart.  Now that must have been exciting. 

By the light of the single candle Chris had lit, Nathan and Chris talked me into going on to water therapy.  They were very encouraging as I left.  They both made sure to recommend that I take the truck in case the streets were impassable.  Thank you for that.  As it turned out the streets were fine.  The only evidence of bad weather on my way there was a street light flashing red.  Not a problem, since Galveston drivers are so knowledgeable and considerate.  I watched one poor, indecisive lady sit through about six rotations moving around her.  She finally inched her way through the intersection.  Hope she made it home or to WalMart or wherever she was headed.

Class was way down attendance-wise for some odd reason.  Were they afraid of getting wet on their way in to crawl into a swimming pool?  It was raining really hard, though, and lightning was lighting up the sky every few seconds.  Class went on, though, and about halfway through we saw one of the transformers behind Walmart explode in a shower of sparks.  When the second transformer went up in another array of fireworks, the instructor joined us in the water so she could see, too.  But before she could get in, a third one went up.  The lights in the pool room went out as well, but I think their emergency generator kicked in right away.  The only effect I could see was the  the pool’s heater went off, and the only reason I knew that was because I was standing right in front of the jet where the heated water enters the pool.

The light show from above entertained us through the rest of class, and we headed home.  I was curious to see what effect, if any, the transformer explosions might have had on WalMart.  Sure enough all the parking lot lights were out, and the store inside looked pretty dark as well.  The street lights at Central City Boulevard and at 69^th Street were now out completely.  Traffic was really thin, though, so no one was having trouble at the intersections.  Looked like that whole strip of businesses on the seawall there in front of WalMart were all in the dark as well.  Water was standing in the street as well, so I was glad I was in the truck.  As I got closer to home, though, I began to see porch lights burning, so I had a flicker of hope for our house. 

Not so much.  Power was still out.  Chris said she and Nathan had almost come out of their shoes at one of the lightning strikes, so it must have been really close.  We stayed in the dark for a few more hours after that.  Chris read the paper by flashlight.  I did some crossword puzzles by the light coming through the front windows.  Finally around 10:00 or so, the Centerpoint Electric truck rolled up.  Didn’t take them long, either.  They just used their telescoping tool to take down the one fuse that had blown and replace it with a good one.  Power back on.  Thank you, guys for responding so quickly.  They told us our neighborhood was one of the hardest hit on the Island.  Thanks so much for that designation.  So … power’s back, computer’s on, here’s today’s blog entry, revised.  I’ll try to be a little less boring tomorrow.  Maybe we’ll be spared the intensity of the storm. 

Psalms 66:1-3 says, “Shout with joy to God, all the earth!  Sing the glory of his name; make his praise glorious!  Say to God, ‘How awesome are your deeds!  So great is your power that your enemies cringe before you.’”

Father, I am constantly amazed at your displays of power, both in the lightning and in the quiet candlelight.  Protect our town as we continue to work through the storm.  Amen.