About Bolivar

Before we even drove off the ferry on to the Bolivar Peninsula, you could see a huge pile of cars to the left hand side of the road. It looked much like a salvage yard that was not there before. There were dozens, maybe 100's of destroyed cars, I assume awaiting their ride to a mainland salvage yard via some barge. After that a huge pile of appliances of all kinds, then debris, and well having to drive ahead at a reasonable speed to keep up with the traffic I surely didn't see it all. It was pretty sad. As we drove east there were some houses left standing on the beach side and a few on the bay side. On each side of the road are huge piles of debris, remains of beach houses that have been gathered up, piled up, and ready to be picked up and taken away. In between those piles of debris are huge piles of sand (the beach) right on the road which I assume means that Ike picked up the sand from the beach and brought tons of it inward, put in on the road and it had to be scraped up to make the road drivable.

As we continued east, the damage gets worse. Anything that was built or sitting on ground level is either completely gone or pretty much totally destroyed. Many of the landmarks that once helped you to know where you were are unrecognizable now or gone completely. A 5th wheel RV serves one of the local grocery stores. A large RV park has sprung up a few miles in, on the bay side. A sign indicates that the Stingaree marina is now open. The grocery store is in the works. Where the church of Christ stood in Crystal Beach now stands a makeshift sign that says "Church of Christ" and a white tent, with a big stack of bottled water at its side. A few things remain but what does remain suffered extensive damage.

The familiar signs of the various beaches as you drive on eastward are gone, some replaced with plywood telling you the name of the beach. Once you reach Crystal beach it gets worse. From Crystal beach east, there's nothing, well no houses anyway. The beach has been eaten back from its normal place maybe 75 feet or more. All that's left of the houses may be pilings or a slab, nothing else. All at once the bride kinda lets out a bit of a scream as we recognize we're at the Rollover Pass bridge. We didn't even know it was coming because nothing is recognizable, no landmarks.

We pullover at what used to be Rollover Pass bait and tackle and stop. It was tricky pulling off the road there in the convertible because its so washed out and rough. We get out to look around and try to get our bearings but can't because its all gone. Whatever was there before, is now gone. You couldn't even pull off on the SE & NW sides of the road, just too washed out and rough. There were a couple of folks fishing and catching the occasional redfish but we're stunned. We cross what's left of the bride, passable enough and pull off on the NE side where I'd come to so many times to fish and to flounder. The bride stays in the car, wiping her eyes at what we've seen but I want to walk the pass. I walk towards the bay side and realize that all the sand and shell from the beach side is now deposited on the bay side of the pass, in huge piles, along with a sign laying on the ground, pole and all that says "open." There's all kinds of other debris, a sink, the regular beer can, a road grader or bull dozer and piles of sand or mulch. There is one house standing, obviously a fairly newer house, way up high on stilts that made it but thats it.

We sit, we contemplate, we realize just how serious that Ike was. We still can't believe its all gone, forever changed. There's no doubt in my mind that I'll be long gone before much of it is rebuilt and the fact is, it will never be the same. Sorry to sound so depressing but it was a lot to take in. It was impossible to fathom and this a full 5 months after the fact.

Unless the beach is replinished the next big storm will take out chunks of the highway making it impossible to reach High Island. The water is so close now that a really high tide will send the waves and water over the road. It washed out the dune all the way from Rollover to the turn north to High Island. Staggering. No wonder lots of people died and some will never be found.

Well, that's all of that. Just thought I'd pass along our trip. I recommend you go and make the drive yourself. Just be prepared to cry. It's really, really sad. No I didn't take my camera. A picture may be worth a thousand words but a drive down there, well, there are no words or pictures that do it justice. We did finish the trip with an evening meal of "Al-T's Special." They have totally remodeled due to Ike damage. It was as good as ever.

Again, thanks for reading.
de

Trip to Galveston

The bride and I took a drive we have been wanting to take since September 13, the day hurricane Ike paid us a visit. We have wanted to take the drive down to Galveston, take the ferry, and go over to the Bolivar Peninsula to see the damage. About 2 pm on Friday afternoon after she had finished some major cleaning around the house, or at least got to a stopping point, and I was done working the church building remodeling, we headed out in her favorite way to travel, her convertible. It was really a bit cool, low 60's, to be wearing shorts and driving highway speed with the top down but the sun was out 100% and we just couldn't resist. Each time we got over the water it cooled down a few degrees and it was windy but overall it was great.

We drove the speed limit to Galveston, turned down 61st street and headed out to the West end to see what it was like down there. The moment we turned on to 61st, there was still a sailboat perched right by the road, in a parking lot, like it was parked there for the night, then a few blocks another, then another. The housing edition on the left side of 61st not too far across the small bay was obviously heavily flooded by the surge. Most of the businesses just off of i-45 & 61st were closed but as you got closer to the seawall, more and more were open, and many others were under repair. Traffic was fairly heavy. We turned right and drove to the West. Almost anything situated at ground level was damaged or flooded. Many of the condos were under repair, trying to get ready for the summer season. Unfortunately, there was no beach extending out from the seawall. The waves lapped right up on to the rocks all the way down. We didn't go too far before making a uturn and deciding to go ahead and drive to the Bolivar ferry. The city seems to have brought sand in to a couple of sections across from the Convention center area to rebuild the beach between about 3 of the jetties. Every pier, structure, everything on the beach side is gone. Technically the Flagship hotel is still there but heavily damaged, everything else that was over the water is gone. Murdoch's and those places are nothing but pilings in the sand now. We didn't drive to the strand or around in the neighborhoods but there was obviously a great deal of flooding damage and many blue tarps still on roofs. A fair number of eating spots were open and some hotels but its going to take a long time for it to be back to normal.

We went ahead and drove to catch the ferry and waited well over an hour for our turn to take the ride. The ferry ride is one of our all time favorite things to do in Galveston and it has not changed. Sitting in the convertible with the top down, while the gulls fly over head is not the most comfortable feeling in the world though, we manage to get on without getting pooped on. By the time we got on the ferry it was time to put the top up, it was just too cool.

Well, there's much more to say about Bolivar but I better get to work now. Maybe tomorrow I'll write about what we saw or didn't see on the Peninsula. I will say this, the further east we travelled the worse it got.

Thanks for reading,
de

What's on my mind

I can't help but be fascinated and concerned by what's happening in Washington these days. I heard over the weekend that with the passing of the stimulus package the Federal governments share in the GDP of the United States goes up. What's the GDP? Its one of the measures of national income and output for a given country's economy. It is the total value of all final goods and services produced in a particular economy; the dollar value of all goods and services produced within a country’s borders in a given year. I'm certainly no expert on such a thing but what I heard is that for the past 20 years the Gov't share in the GDP has ranged anywhere from 17%-22% in any given year. Probably higher than I expected but ok. With the new stimulus package in place and the government taking a huge part in the auto industry and banking, the gov't share of the GDP goes to, get this, 39%. Looks like we're running headlong into socialism. I'm not saying there weren't some serious issues with corruption, greed and such but I've never been a big advocate that bigger gov't is the answer. I guess time will tell.

The other thing that is happening is all those folks he's trying to put around him. I guess it is best explained by this cartoon I got today.


But I guess its only been 30 days. We should give him a chance. It's the debt he's given my grandchildren that I'm concerned about.

de

The Beat Goes On

The bad news is that there is pounding outside my office and over my head upstairs in the teen classrooms. That's also the good news. Construction is in full swing at our church building. It's been a long time coming or so it would seem. It's a tremendous undertaking and I'm grateful we've hired pros to do most of the work. I recall when I first arrived in Baytown in May of 1989, that the men of the congregation had undertaken the task of remodeling this same building that I am still in. Of course I volunteered to help as did many of the men in the church. I like to work with my hands and sometimes I'm pretty good at it. The trouble with that undertaking was the sheer size of the project. Not that we didn't have the skills to complete the work but the sheer size of the task was likely too big for a set of volunteers to sustain the momentum. Plus, if things didn't go just right, who could you blame? Always an issue. There remain some hard feelings that go back to that remodeling project almost 20 years ago. Thankfully, this time around, the insurance payment from hurricane Ike should pay for most everything, done by the contractors. If there's a problem, you have someone to hold responsible for making sure its done right and they are working each and every day, not just when voluteers can make the time to do it. I guess that's my point, the beat goes on, every day, the sooner the better as far as I'm concerned. Our building should be in better shape than it has been...well since the last time it was remodeled, and in some ways even better. My prayer is that we can utilize it in all kinds of ways that Gods name and His Son will be lifted up.

I'm still enjoying our winter here in S Texas. Bright, sunny, and 70 degrees.

de

Following Obama Closely

I hope that everyone is following the first few weeks of Obama's Presidency closely. No, I didn't vote for him but I understand the various reasons why so many did. His was a message of hope, of change, of youth, of lower taxes, of something new and different. Here's the final paragraph of an editorial which ran in the Houston Chronicle yesterday entitled,

"New age of Obama ends in frenzy of hypocrisy." by By CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER

It's too early to say "I told you so" and boy is it early.

"After Obama's miraculous 2008 presidential campaign, it was clear that at some point the magical mystery tour would have to end. The nation would rub its eyes and begin to emerge from its reverie. The hallucinatory Obama would give way to the mere mortal. The great ethical transformations promised would be seen as a fairy tale that all presidents tell and that this president told better than anyone. I thought the awakening would take six months. It took two and a half weeks."

I hope the next two and half weeks is better for him and us.

de

Recent pic

Here's a recent picture of my favorite grandson. He's a got a ton of personality and a unique look in his eye, don't you think? Have a blessed day.

de

Ike Update

Unless you live on the Gulf Coast you have long forgotten hurricane Ike. The media forgot it after 3 days. I'm amazed at the number of roofs that still have blue tarps on them, waiting for a roofer to show up and do the work. In a recent conversation someone commented that "the folks in Houston got a whole week off for the hurricane, why do we have to go work when its icy?" It's a "you had to be there" kind of thing. The bride and I live on S Burnett Dr, right on the water. We are fortunate enough to be high up enough that we were spared the total devastation of others who lived just a bit further down the street. Yesterday when I did my afternoon walk to the end of the street and back, I counted 15 houses that have now been bulldozed on that end of our street. About 8 more were taken down while we were in Ok last week visiting family and I mean bulldozed to the ground, nothing left but a pile of rubble. Maybe 5 or 6 are being rebuilt as their basic structure, studs and roof were intact. Another 8-10 have yet to be bulldozed but look like they should be. Its a sober reminder of how powerful a storm Ike was.

We are seeing real progress at the church building. The sheetrock and mud has been delivered. Insulation is going up. Some redoing of the kitchen walls has finished. Hopefully today they will start putting up some of the sheetrock. Yeah! Its been almost 5 months since the storm. Its really hard to understand the impact of it all unless you see it every day. That's my Ike update FYI.

de

Oh yeah, while I was home I set my dad up with his own blog, Poppie's Blog. Now if I can just get him to use it.