Cinque Terre

5 days back in Milan and barely over the jet lag and Jeff and I were off to meet up with Texas friends in the beautiful setting of the Cinque Terre, which loosely translates into 5 towns. The 'mission' should you choose to accept it in this area is to hike the trail between the 5 towns that comprise this area. J and I came prepared. We had purchased hiking sticks and proper fitting hiking boots for me on our visit in Zermatt. Very good purchases. We were staying in the southern most town of Riomaggiore, the same town T and S had stayed in, and J and I had provided the ride to in October. I however had not laid eyes on anything other than a parking place due to the broken ankle. But I digress. We arrived on Saturday around noon, by train, to a glorious day. We knew not when 'the travelers' were arriving from Sienna so we spent a leisurely day around the town and ventured onto the 1st trail called 'lover's lane'. That 1st section was easy and quick. We found our friends, settled them in, and drank some wine. We finished the day with dinner and conversation.
Sunday was D-day. Jeff and I were up for the first 2 sections and would play it by ear and Jeff's knees. The last 2 sections were known to be intense and we could use the train to join the walkers in the last 2 towns. As anticipated the middle town was the end of J and J's hike, but before we called it quits, we did climb the 397 steps to the town, the only one not on the water. We met for lunch in town 4, Vernazza, and again trained to town 5, Monterossa. Jeff and I made a muddle out of train hopping and the walkers beat us to the last town. We hopped the boat back and got ready to say good-bye and catch our train back to Milan. As I am frequently reminded "someone has to work!".

Barely scratched

Where Steven put his car for safe keeping

Ike

It's 2PM on Sunday afternoon. Steven drove to College Station last night to get a generator from his father. It is now on and the refrigerators and the ceiling fans in the house are on, and yippee, the wireless router!! We have had a very interesting time of it.
In the 60's I lived in New Orleans when Hurricane Betsy came through. I know we were without power for some time there, and ice became the precious commodity. When Rita missed us a few years back we were fortunate and got our power back the evening of the storm. This time, I'm glad for a generator.
As you can tell this Norris is not in Italy, but in Houston Texas, home of the 'aftermath of Ike'. None of our extended family, 5 households was in an evacuation zone, and the mayor asked those citizens to 'shelter in place'. Liz and Danny did leave their apartment to stay with Mrs O. Mr O is in Venezuela on business. By Friday everyone was 'hunkered down'. Some people stayed up late, waiting to 'see' others went to bed hoping to get some sleep before the inevitable. I was at the in-laws and we were the last to lose power at 2:45 A M. We also appear to be the only household to experience the 'eye'. At 5:30 Saturday morning, the calm began and continued for an hour, a break appreciated by the dog. Then the other side of the storm, and a marathon game of backgammon to distract us. Weirdest thing is, we had cell service then, but spotty at best now.
The rest of Saturday was spent listening to the radio, packing coolers, picking up debris and seeing how many trees went down in your neighborhood. Lots of people were out checking on neighbors, or just visiting for lack of anything else to do. I found the U of Houston football game which had relocated to Dallas on the SMU campus as a diversion. I kind of wish they had relocated the Astros-Cubs series to neutral turf, for we Houstonites need something else on the radio at this point. Tricia took me to the Norris Sr.'s on Friday afternoon. We played a game of Mexican train and sent Tricia home before the 6PM curfew. So for me to get to Tricia's Saturday night I borrowed their car. All the roadways I needed were clear. I found 1 intersection with power. Not only was the light working but the 1 restaurant and 2 gas stations were open. Just past this n 1960 I found lots of trees in the road and lots f power lines down. But thanks to back-up power the Lowes and HEB were open!
So, we've survived the hurricane winds, but this morning Ike had 1 more Punch to deliver. A band of storms hit the area in the middle of the night and kept up with heavy rain until 10AM. It took T and I over an hour to make the 20 minute drive to the N's to to flooding in 2 locations, more cars on the road and downed trees on our chosen detour routes. Oh, and the line of cars waiting to get into Shipley donuts at that 1 intersection with power. The bright side is there is a cool front due in tonight which will make sleeping much easier. I'll be glad to be back in Italy on the 22nd. and am grateful we don't have a hoe to worry about here. All 5 properties were spared unlike the one Steven thought he was lucky to be able to garage his car in.

How I spent my weekend

Event Occurrence Information
If you click on 'Event' you'll get a feel for why I spent 36 hours in Las Vegas. I did not spent a cent on gambling but left with 'winnings' of a spiritual kind. I can not sing the praises of these 3 ladies enough. All I can say is Beth Moore delivers!

24503 German Oak

The building has begun. Hopefully the construction of this house will go smoother than the pre-construction phase!

A long time

I'm finally taking a minute to regroup. Since my last post Jeff and I have flown to Houston, held his Mother's hand for her surgery, spent a week in Minnesota, of which 5 days were spent at Breezy Point with the Piephos, flown back to Houston, spent a week firming up the new house with the builder, visited with everyone, and let's not forget Jeff's surprise 50th B'Day party! Jeff left for Milan on Saturday, and I'm here til the 21st. That's it in a nutshell, and I'm not feeling very prosy right now. In other words, that's it!