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Prior to moving to Tulsa, we had been in two locations that had potential floods. One day when living in Pasadena, TX, it took me until 10 pm to get home. At the time, I had a small child in day care so my husband had to go get him. It was extremely stressful to get home. The expressways were flooded in some areas or backed up to the point of stopping or if you tried an access road or side road they were also flooded and impassable. I still am not sure how I made it home that night. The next day we had four feet of water in the street in front of our house and a small motor boat was going down the street. My boss called me that day and asked why I wasn't at work. I never thought to call thinking the other places were like my home was. Evidently not, but I still refused to go to work. I did go the next day when the water had receded. Yes, the Houston area is known for floods, but, at the time, there was no flood insurance and not as much attention paid as today. We moved from Pasadena, TX to Abilene, TX to the dry, western part of the state. Texas is like Oklahoma in that it has lakes that are all man-made due to damming up rivers in the state. We had had some rain in Abilene, but not enough to flood. However, somewhere on the watershed above the lake that was not too far away, there had been lots of rain. We heard the news that they were releasing water from the dam. I didn't think too much about it, but when the water started running in the street, I decided to take myself and my two children, 4 and less than 6 months with me and get out of there. It was another adventure of trying to navigate streets and not flood the car. My husband was at work, so I called him and told him we would be sleeping in a motel that night and we would be staying on the second floor. I was not taking any more chances. Driving with water running in the street and not being able to see the street is a very scary experience for me. With these two experiences behind me, the next move was to Tulsa. I had to go house hunting by myself. Needless to say, I wanted a place way up hill from any water. We moved to Tulsa in 1975 and were here for the really bad flood on Memorial Day in 1976. We live not far from Mingo Creek so saw all the damage, but we were not in danger of flooding. I have a very great respect for water and its ability to move cars, trees, houses and you name it. Every house I have lived in since then has been in no danger of flooding unless we get 40 days and 40 nights. --Carolyn
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Wasn't it Will Rogers who said "Weather, everyone talks about it, but no one does anything about it"? I think it was. When my parents were living and I called home to chat, Dad would answer the phone, give me a weather report, then hand the phone to Mother for the rest of the news. When we moved to Arizona in mid-August of 2019 the Monsoon season had ended. Then in 2020 there was no Monsoon. No rain at all. We laughed at the "Storm Commander" vehicle that would go out and track the dangerous weather around the Valley. We actually thought it was kind of overkill for a bit of rain. Then Monsoon 2021 hit! And we have learned what a Monsoon means in the Desert. The storms have been constant for 2 weeks and forecasted to go on through the coming week. The areas of the desert that have burned through the Spring and Summer are now dangerous flood sites. There is nothing to hold the water, or slow the rush down the mountains, so flash floods are being reported. Stories of cars swept away by rushing water, homes damaged and people rescued are common. Phoenix has a canal system to move water to the treatment plants in areas where it is most needed. I believed those canals would handle any runoff from rain storms. But that is not the case. We now understand the deep, empty channels that run through the city to protect neighborhoods from flash floods. So far, we have not seen any threats to our area of the city, but I won't ignore any warnings we may get. We've gone from extreme heat, over 110 during the day and lows of 90 degrees overnight, to days of low 70s and no change at night. Our sinuses are confused by the changes in the atmosphere and everyone seems to have some degree of allergies going on. While it is true, the Monsoon will not last very long, I will be relieved to see our weather move back to a more predictable pattern. Even the heat will be "normal" when it returns. --donna My first cohesive memory--when I was not yet five--is a pretty dramatic one. Hurricane Audrey hit southwest Louisiana so early in the season that most people were completely unprepared. Weather forecasting wasn't as reliable in June of 1957 anyway, and most of the old-timers were used to riding storms out. Not anymore. After Audrey, and until Hurricane Katrina in 2005, if anyone mentioned "The Storm" in SW Louisiana, everyone knew they referred to Audrey. Many towns along the coast were completely wiped out and widespread flooding extended more than 30 miles north to Lake Charles and beyond. Only the courthouse was left standing in Cameron. Oddly enough, most people built back again...and then again. Coastal people are a stubborn bunch.
Until Katrina, Audrey was the deadliest hurricane to hit Louisiana as well, with nearly 500 dead. My family and I, who holed up inside our house, with taped and plywood-covered windows, were lucky. Many locals took to the road (including Tim's family), and some got stranded on the way north. Sometime during the day on June 27, we lost electricity and set up camp in our living room with our Coleman stove and lantern and ate Vienna sausages on paper plates. We had a gas refrigerator, so we were at least able to keep our food cold, and we had a gas stove, water heater, and clothes dryer. We didn't have air conditioning in our home in 1957 anyway, so we didn't lose that comfort. Dad read to us from A Child's Garden of Verses and we traded stories, read, or drew pictures throughout the day, while Audrey howled outside and storm surge pummeled the coast. We had no idea about the losses to our south, and I was excited by the unexpected close confinement and flickering candlelight in our snug living room. I felt completely protected by my father, older sister, and brother during this ferocious storm--I was never afraid. Our house sustained little damage and it did not flood. I realize now that my fond memories of Audrey were because of my ignorance of its cost to the people who lost lives and property. The ramping up of hurricane intensities in recent years due to climate change are terrifying for me now. Family who still live in Lake Charles have suffered many more hurricane events since Audrey and storm numbers are increasing. It's well past time to take action to address climate change. It will take a certain national will, a worldwide determination to overcome that is lacking. Even if we had the will, I'm not sure we could agree on the way. In the meantime, I can't help a guilty, naïve heart-thumping thrill when a storm (even a quiet ice storm) kicks up outside, as long as I'm safe and warm inside. Each one calls to mind one of my fondest memories of a time when I felt completely loved and protected by my family in the midst of turmoil. --Jan Weather is so important now as an indicator of climate change and for its effect on humanity’s future, but I don’t want to talk about the big picture. I’m intrigued by the way weather affects our mood and general well-being. Sunny days elevate mood, and people who live in places that are cloudy a lot have a higher incidence of depression. There’s a chemical reason for that of course, but we experience it more poetically. My mother-in-law always called my husband her “sunshine boy” because he brought brightness and joy to the household. Even though sunlight has a positive effect on mood, there’s also a way in which I enjoy a cloudy or better yet rainy day because it feels cozy and warm inside. I love to curl up to read in my favorite chair with a blanket and a cup of hot tea. Living in Oklahoma where any significant snowfall is a rare event, snow has always been exciting to me. Besides being beautiful, it’s fun to play in snow. I did that as a child and now have the occasional opportunity to do so with grandchildren. I love making snow angels and building snowmen and forts. There’s also something so enjoyable about coming in from the cold to warm up with hot chocolate. At least that’s how I remember it from my childhood. --Terese Growing up we really didn't have any pets. One of my brothers had a dog once, but it didn't stay long and I have no idea what happened to it. My mother was allergic to all kinds of things so that was the reason given. After I got divorced, I decided I wanted my own pet and decided to get a cat. I ended up going to the SPCA. They have all kinds of criteria for getting a pet. When I went to their place, they only had a couple of cats and no kittens. I assured them I wanted a cat. I fell in love with Daisy, that was her name already. She had been found after an ice storm with four kittens and she was only one of two cats left at the shelter. She came home with me. It was a new adventure as I had really never been around cats, but they seemed easier to care for and I was working. I had to promise the SPCA that she would be an indoor cat to keep her safe, but she escaped out the front door at the first house and scared me to death. I was sure she would be run over as I lived on a fairly busy street. She did that a couple of times and then we moved to a less busy street. Her adventures before I got her made her an indoor/outdoor cat. One time she got behind the car as I was getting ready to leave for work. I didn't know she was there. I accidentally backed over her. She took off and I had no idea if she was really hurt. She was gone and we looked and looked for her. We were so sad and upset, especially me, as I might have really wounded her. About a week later, she just re-appeared. We have no idea where she had been. She was missing a bit of fur from her tail, but otherwise, she was fine. She was certainly able to fend for herself. The nights before she died she had been very affectionate and laid on my lap, which I just loved. She still wanted to go out at night. One morning I found she had passed away. There will never be a pet as special to me as she was. She made the move to three houses and never missed a beat. I still miss her. --Carolyn Tim and I mostly had cats during the first twenty-plus years of marriage. Our first cat, Gray Kitty, was selected a few days after our wedding from a litter my good friend Renee was giving away. We had her for 18 years. Our second cat, Cassie, saw us through another 18 years. When we got our third cat, Zelda, I expected the same. Alas, she died suddenly at about 7 years of age. We'd also had a couple of dogs, adopted as adults, when our children were younger, but I didn't grow particularly close to either of them. I thought of myself as a "cat person." When Kelly left home for college and we had an empty nest, Tim decided I should have a puppy. It was a complete surprise, and I thought he'd lost his mind. Nutmeg (so named because her mother was Sugar and her aunt was Spice) was a full-blood beagle without papers. A coworker of Tim's bred beagles for hunting. Tim paid $25 for her and surprised me with this little bundle of energy on my birthday. We called her Meggie or Meg, and loved her dearly for 17 years--almost as long as a cat! Meg was true to her breed. Her two favorite things in life were food and following a scent. If she escaped from the yard (also a digger when she was young), she could follow a trail for miles before being found. But she was so sweet! She loved us almost as much as she did her dinner. I read once that beagles will eat anything that looks like food, and a lot that doesn't. So very true for Meg! When we adopted a border collie mix puppy to be company for her a couple of years later, we ruined Meg's life. The cute little furball we named Snickers was very exciting to her for a while. When Snickers grew up bigger than Meg, she became the alpha dog, and Meg lost her standing. Dogs learn their place in the pack quickly and there's nothing we can do to change it. Poor sweet Meg lived the next fifteen years of her life in Snickers' shadow. I hadn't expected to grow so attached to Meg, but she gave me a chance to practice nurturing and mothering skills that were appreciated on a different level, without all the drama of child rearing. She was always so happy to welcome us home--even if Snickers stood between us. I do miss that pure kind of love. --Janice I've always liked dogs of every sort. Big, hairy, short haired, short legs, doesn't matter. They all seem to speak my language. Hands down though, the Golden retrievers were my favorites. Lonnie brought home the first one. It was a very large, very old, dog that had gotten lost in a storm and wandered up to a co-worker's home. the fellow emailed everyone at their office; this was when Lonnie worked at MCI, about this fine old fellow that his family could not keep. They had 3 small children and could not take on anything else. Lonnie took a look at that dignified old face and couldn't let him go to the pound. Funny thing was, Lonnie wasn't really a dog person, but Nimbus (for the storm clouds) spoke to his heart. And Nimbus was a treat for us for some time. It was a little like adopting a sick old uncle, lots of vet bills along the way, but he paid us back with affection. When the time came to let him go it was really hard. Later, Cirrus (again for the clouds) came to us as a rescue. He was fully grown and had not been raised in a family, so he did not know how to play with toys or doggie things. He did love chew bones and knew how to appreciate them! He and I worked our way through Obedience Training and he passed the test to be a Therapy dog. He was the Friendly Visitor type of therapy dog. He was big enough that he could walk up to a person in a wheelchair and lay his head in their lap. He loved visiting nursing homes and being with people. Our instructor told me the needed skills for visiting could be taught to any dog, but the personality couldn't, and he had personality plus. Cirrus was my companion dog, even after Sunshine (a smaller, blond Golden) came into our home, he didn't quit following me and being in the same room with me. One of my favorite things to do with the Goldens was to take them over to the walking path by Mingo Creek and let them run. Cirrus was a dark red and Sunny was a light blond, together they were poetry in motion running in the sun. It was an undeveloped area in some ways and had lots of small wild life to chase. Once they even chased a fox! The fox ran toward the water, then turned on a dime and ran back under them and disappeared into the bushes. The dogs were really surprised by that. Another treat with these guys was to take them to McDonalds for a small ice cream cone. Cirrus would carefully lick his ice cream all the way down the cone then eat the cone. Sunshine would chomp hers down in seconds; ice cream, cone and all. I want to believe I will have Cirrus with me in Heaven. If not , I'm not going. --donna It’s amazing to look back and realize how many pets I’ve had over the years. Mostly dogs, although there were a couple of cats in the mix. I much prefer dogs because I like having someone who is ecstatic to see me when I come home. The most important pet I had was the dog I grew up with. Tag was a black cocker spaniel that we got when I was about five. He was a family pet but he bonded with me the most. Tag was playful and loving, a real joy to have around. Except for the time he managed to snatch the Thanksgiving turkey and carry it to the living room to eat! That’s one of those experiences that’s only funny in retrospect. Tag gave me unconditional love as a kid. In fact, he and my grandmother were the only ones who did so. He never got mad at me, but more importantly, he never ignored me. I was mostly ignored in my family but Tag was always happy to be with me. He slept on a rug by my bed, and as I got to my adolescent years, he became my confidant for all of my teenage angst. He always understood and never judged me. He got me through many real and imagined crises by snuggling and licking my face. Tag lived a long life and died while I was away at college. He will always have a special place in my heart. --Terese |
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