Travel, weather issues, power

I spent the last three days traveling. I had a class to teach in Flowood, MS – just north of Jackson. It was a good group of guys and for the most part, a pretty easy trip overall. I told Mama she would have loved the area. It was one of those towns that sit on the outskirts of a larger town that offer all the amenities the larger town would offer without the inconvenience of congestion. The hotel I stayed in was on the edge of a shopping area that went on for a little over a mile. The variety of stores was pretty amazing for such a small community; reminiscent of Soncy Road in Amarillo with a mall on one side and about four miles of strip center shopping on the other. The airport was small but not too small, easily accessible and only about four miles from the hotel. It was a good trip.

Speaking of travel, the big story this morning is Hurricane Harvey. The direct impact for us is the families we know in Houston and Victoria, but other than a lot of rain and some strong winds there is no imminent danger. It is not a sudden, unpredictable event like an earthquake, explosion or tornado. It will cause damage, but it is an event where you can get out of the way. Warnings have been issues and those that are wise will heed those warnings. What has us more concerned is the fact that Nate, Cori and the kids are due to fly back into Houston this afternoon. I am confident that the airline will not attempt an arrival if it is not entirely safe, but we will not know until Cori contacts Mama. It would not be a horrible thing for them to have to stay a few extra days in Honduras – I am sure the kids would not mind at all – but it will take some planning to work it out with the schedule they have set here in the states. For this morning, we will wait to see what the verdict is.

I now have power to the shop. Mama called the electric company to let them know I had made the final tie-ins and they came out that afternoon to set the meter base. That was on Monday. Unfortunately, I had FBI Monday evening so I was not able to get the breaker installed or the box hung that will allow Nate to connect the camper to power at the shop. I hope to get that done today. By the time they get back to the farm I should have everything ready for them to operate at full power in the camper. That will help both us and them since getting power from the house kept them from running any appliances other than the a/c, while in the house we were constantly tripping breakers as we tried to use some of the appliances we needed to help in meal preparation. It was not a hardship, but it made the one of us who forgot and ran the microwave I have in the laundry room feel stupid for having forgotten until the breaker tripped and we lost power to that end of the house; a bother, nothing more.

Mama and I will have lunch together for the first time since she started school. I have thoroughly enjoyed these opportunities to have lunch with Mama.