Tag: OK

A Crazy May

On By DGThomaIn Family, Travel, Writing2 Comments

What a crazy May we have had.  At least the last part of May has been crazy hectic by my standards.  On Saturday, May 23rd, we left Austin, TX for Tulsa, OK to celebrate my granddaughter’s birthday.  The rain began as we arrived and increased in intensity quickly.

We checked into a hotel.  My daughter was due to fly in to Tulsa around 10:00 PM and our plan was to touch base on Sunday morning.  The heavy rain quickly turned into a dangerous situation, flooding a few areas around town and many of the outlying towns.

Local television stations ceased regular programming and provided constant updates of the flooding situation, including water rescues.  I was also monitoring the flooding situation in Wichita Falls, TX.  I have family in the area and was concerned with their situations.

By 9:00 PM, my daughter had telephoned to say she had been diverted to Wichita, Kansas due to weather conditions in Tulsa.  The main concern was the danger of wind shears.

Around the same time, my phone rang.  My sister was calling to say she was also in Tulsa.  She had come to visit a friend and contacted my daughter to let her know she was in town.  What an oddity to find ourselves miles from our homes, and both in Tulsa in the midst of storms and flooding.20150525_180516

My daughter finally made it in around midnight; my sister and I were safe in our hotels and the rain continued.   On Sunday, a little tired but excited to be together, we had a wonderful birthday celebration for my granddaughter which turned into a slumber party.  My sister and I stayed Sunday night with my daughter and had a wonderful time playing games, laughing and just having fun.  Early Monday morning we left Tulsa for Austin.  The weather cooperated until we neared Waco, TX.  I received a weather alert and text about the same time.  Apparently there was rotation 15 miles ahead and coming our direction.  My friend’s text basically said if you are in Waco take cover unless you’re at Twin Peaks, then keep driving!20150525_160803

With the radio warning we should seek cover immediately, we ducked into a Hastings.  Of course I would find a book store to take refuge!  When the rain lessened and the warning changed from a tornado warning to a severe thunderstorm warning, we decided to try to head home.  When we headed for Interstate 35, we discovered the access roads were underwater and raging.  Trying to avoid the flood waters, we turned away from the interstate and headed through a neighborhood, driving through a downpour and hoping we were moving uphill.  My son pulled out his phone and switched his maps to a topographic map to guide us to higher ground.

We made it safely back on the interstate a few miles down the road.  All the way home we were watching emergency vehicles working accidents, closing roads and rescuing underwater vehicles.

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When we finally made it home, we were relieved to find our roads passable although there was water running across the roads and the ditches were rushing with muddy water.  We pulled into the drive, opened the front door and discovered we had no power.  Since it was just before dusk, it wasn’t quite too dark to see.

A call to the electric company provided an update.  Electricity should be back on by 6:00 AM tomorrow morning.  Absolutely unprepared to return home to no power, we made a quick trip to Wal-Mart for flashlights, batteries, food, etc.

By 6:00 AM the power outage was predicted to last until 6:00 PM.  While we waited for the sunshine to rise and peek through the windows, we slept in.  We had to conserve our phone usage, live without internet or computers and try to keep our food from spoiling.

We had a forced night of relaxation, the water never made it over the porch and our drive didn’t wash out until three days later, but that’s a story for another day.  We were very fortunate.  It seemed we were able to avoid floods, tornados and lightning storms.  My heart and condolences go out to all the flood victims and I am extremely grateful we were spared.

Christmas 2014

On By DGThomaIn Family, Humor/Light Hearted, Writing2 Comments

Christmas 2014…. What a crazy and wonderful time we had.  Previously I nicknamed 2014 as the year of the broken bones.  I suffered through a broken toe and my husband Ron is sporting a trendy black cast while he recovers from a break in his wrist.

As we sprinted to the finish line to usher in 2015, I was a bit relieved to see 2014 come to an end.  We are normally very healthy.  We exercise and try to eat right so it is outside of the norm for us to have issues.

In December, we traveled to New York City for a bit of relaxation and rejuvenation before heading to Texas on Christmas Eve for our extended family Christmas celebration.  We were scheduled to fly out of JFK on the 23rd.   After a long busy day of activities on the 22nd, we received a text from my daughter which read “On my way to hospital, probably broken ankle, I’m okay.”  Followed shortly by “Broken on both sides, trying to determine if they will transport to surgery tonight.”20141224_155936

Oh, boy!  We were unable to change our flights due to the Christmas travel, so we headed to the airport to standby for any earlier flights.  No earlier flights materialized.  All things considered, the airport and subsequent travel went relatively smoothly.  We flew into Austin, TX, arriving at 9:30 PM where we grabbed our bags, retrieved our car and set off for Tulsa, OK.  We stopped about half way to Tulsa for the night.  Early the next morning on Christmas Eve we set off again.

While we were trying to get home, my son and daughter had coordinated and moved our Christmas celebration to Tulsa.  My son transported gifts, food and family and himself to Tulsa in support of his sister.  On Christmas Eve the two of them were sitting in the orthopedic surgeon’s office having her ankle reset, surgery scheduled and making everyone laugh.

By the time I arrived, dinner was being prepared, the house had been spruced and gifts were under the tree.  Everyone was smiling, my son-in-law’s parents were dropping by and one of his co-workers was on the way to share in the celebration.

As we gathered around the dinner table, we were all grateful to share a meal and celebrate being together.  So while I may have been pre-emptive to declare this the year of the broken bone ended, this is it!  No more broken bones allowed!

We had a wonderful new celebration of memories to add to our holiday traditions.  Today Christmas is over and we are sitting sipping our coffee and watching the snow fall outside while we were warm and comfortable inside.

Let it Snow
Let it Snow

 

 

Memories of A Middle Child

On By DGThomaIn Family, Food, Writing4 Comments

Growing up in a family of 5 children is lovely and maddening.  As family position goes, I am right in the middle. To my older sister and brother, I was the baby.  To my two younger sisters, I was one of the big kids.  Honestly I was probably more the baby since we three older siblings were so close in age.  My oldest sister was born on July 6th, 18 months later in January my brother was born.  Queue forward to July 6th 18 months after my brother was born; I was born.  Yes I was born on my sister’s third birthday.  How I love to remind her, I am wonderful gift!

Whichever I am, one of the oldest or the baby, I was very shy and terribly dependent on my mother when I was young.  So when my grandparents invited me to spend a week with them in Rush Springs, OK, no one thought I would go.  Especially not my mother, who assured me no one, would be able to come pick me up before the next weekend.

Hello world!
Hello world!

But I did go and I had the time of my young life.  For just one week, I went from being the middle child with four siblings to becoming an only child.  For one entire week, I had my grandparents completely to myself and was allowed to wander around the farm on my own.  I named each chicken and watched them pecking the ground for hours.  I climbed the apple tree and I talked to my grandparents.  I felt like a princess.

My two favorite memories of the week were the weekly trip to the grocery store and my grandmother making lemon pudding.

The grocery store was unlike any grocery store you would find today.  It was a small locally owned store crowded with shelves of canned goods, dry goods and fresh produce.  But my most vivid memory was the “drawing”.  We had been wandering the narrow aisles, mostly window shopping, but a few things made their way into the cart.

Suddenly, it got quiet in the store and Mr. Teal, the grocery store owner called out, “Who wants a ticket.  One dollar for a chance at this week’s basket of groceries.”  A current of excitement moved through the crowd.  Understanding my grandparents were extremely conservative with their money, I was shocked when my grandfather was one of the first people to pay a dollar for a ticket.

What a wondrous thing it was.  It was my first experience with the pure joy of chance and anticipation.  For only a dollar, there was a chance to take all those groceries home for free.  Mr. Teal drew numbers from a cup and called a few numbers.  I watched my grandfather’s face.  With the complete faith of youth, I waited for him to go collect the groceries.  Of course our number wasn’t drawn and we left without the groceries.

Even though I was disappointed when we didn’t win, I remember vividly, how I felt waiting with my grandparents for the “drawing.”  It still makes me smile.

My other favorite memory was of my grandmother making a lemon pudding in the large country kitchen.  She stirred fresh milk into a sugary mixture in a pot on the stove-top.  She was making a pudding and I asked if she was making a banana pudding.  My mother often made wonderful banana pudding with vanilla wafers.  She said she was making a lemon pudding and we were going to put lemon cookies on top!  Then she explained she always put sugar cookies on vanilla pudding and lemon cookies on lemon pudding!  I have no idea why that was so remarkable to me but I always thought it was extremely creative!

There were so many good memories from than that week but these two memories transport me back to my grandparents farm and a wonderful week with two of my favorite people.