Mom & Dad have made it safely to the Houston area and are now staying with Mom’s sister and husband!
Thank everyone for your kinds thoughts and prayers and please go and welcome her back! –> Molly’s Mom

The Grotto – The National Sanctuary of Our Sorrowful Mother, Portland, Oregon

Appreciation is the highest form of prayer, for it acknowledges the presence of good wherever you shine the light of your thankful thoughts. Alan Cohen

Good news, Mom and Dad are in a Red Cross shelter (still in Nacogdoches). There’s beds, showers, food, water, and free phones. Mom says the people are exceptionally nice. Bad news is, there’s a gas shortage, so they don’t know how long they’ll be there. Roads are closed in certain areas between them and Houston and there’s also some damage along the way that could prohibit travel. Currently, Port Arthur and that area is not allowing anyone back in and anyone that is there they’re asking to leave since there’s no power, sewage, etc. I still have no word on my cousin who supposedly stayed, since the phone lines are down. with any luck they left with there kids.

That’s it for now, I’ll keep updating with new information.

when i was home last, i took this shot from the car while we were on our way to McFaddin Beach on the Gulf Coast. I was born in Port Arthur, then moved to Port Neches and then Beaumont. I lived in the area for 23 years. My Mom and Dad evacuated Port Arthur yesterday morning. Hopefully they’re somewhere safe by now.

******I just talked to Mom*******

they are in Nacagdoches (Texas; about 90 miles northwest from Port Arthur) and are okay. the first night they slept in their car on the side of the road and last night they slept in their car in a Walmart parking lot, where they still are right now with a hundred or so more people. they managed to get gas last night, but now have no ice to keep food cold. She packed some canned goods and there is a conveince store close that has some provisions. She’s not sure what they’ll do next. they are getting some rain there and lots of wind. i’m now activating the “phone-tree” to notify others. i’m also trying to get ahold of my godmother (my Dad’s neice) who didn’t leave the area, but her phoneline seems to be dead…

thanks for all the kind thoughts. i feel better now that i know they’re okay, but still feel so far away and unable to help them.

Unto this wood I came As to a nest;
Dreaming that sylvan peace Offered the harrowed ease-
Nature a soft release From men’s unrest. Thomas Hardy
(British Novelist and Poet who set much of his work in Wessex,
an imaginary county in southwestern England.)

August sunset in Oakhurst, California

If we have the opportunity to be generous with our hearts, ourselves, we have no idea of the depth and breadth of love’s reach. Margaret Cho, weblog, 03-09-04

marker along path at the Japanese Garden, Portland Oregon

You cannot travel the path until you have become the path itself. Buddha

Japanese Garden, Portland Oregon

Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes. Alan Watts

You cannot perceive beauty but with a serene mind. Henry David Thoreau