Hurricane Tales, Part 1

One year ago things were a lot different. Hurricane Ike had just ravaged Houston and we had a house full of people. There are a couple of stories that happened during that time that haven't been told. I felt like the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Ike was a good time to do it.

"The Pharaon Bed and Breakfast"

Taking refuge from the storm in the little green house were Kristi's mom and dad, Sami dog, Lynn and Hannah and their dog as well as me, Kristi, Kayci and Noble. It was a full house. But then the hurricane knocked out my dad's electricity. He tried to tough it out, but September in Houston with no air conditioning is really, really tough (that, and his water wasn't safe to drink) and I finally convinced him to come up to Brenham. He didn't want to impose, so I told him that I had found him a room at a bed and breakfast very nearby and just to pack a bag and come. So he did.

Dad came up first thing in the morning. I told him that the room wouldn't be available until after five, so he took a warm shower and hung out on the deck with us and had lunch and just visited. Finally five 'o-clock came and we loaded up his suitcase into his car and I said I'd drive him to the bed and breakfast to check in. We got in the car and I drove him through some of the neighborhoods in Brenham, snaking my way through town in a big circle.

Finally, I told him "okay, the bed and breakfast is right around the corner here." We rounded the corner and stopped right next to my house, right where we had been parked just a few minutes before. He tried to object, but I told him that we wouldn't have it any other way. And I think he was a little proud of the way I had pulled one over on him. You see, I had not only convinced him to come up to Brenham, but I had also cleverly waited until late in the day before we could "check in" to his room, knowing that he doesn't like to drive at night. And then I had gotten him completely lost on the way to the "bed and breakfast" so he wouldn't know anything was up.

I was really, really proud of myself.

So Dad slept on Kayci's bed that night, and Kristi and I slept better knowing that he was safe and in an air-conditioned house with drinkable water.