We've been on a trip to find the location for our next family reunion. Marilyn and her Mother and I got home yesterday having driven from Hannibal, Missouri where we spent Saturday night. We were fortunate to have stopped in Hannibal. It was raining the last couple of hours whilst driving into the town and so we found a motel and hunkered down.
Yesterday morning we started out across Northern Missouri on highway 36. About half of that trip was through flooded farm ground. At one point they detoured us off of our side of the interstate that was under flood waters. All of this was the result of the remnants of Hurricane Ike.
I'm anxious to hear how Jim and Mrs Jim and Lucy have weathered the storm. Even if they didn't sustain substantial damage they surely will have been without things we've all grown accustomed to, like electricity. We've been through long spells without electricity a couple of times ourselves here on the farm because of ice storms. Once with 150 head of cattle in the feed yard. You can't help but come away with bad memories.
We'll keep checking on you Houstonites. Good luck.
Oh, the reunion, the big announcement to the family has yet to be made but it looks like The Land Between the Lakes in Kentucky and Tennessee is a likely favorite. Besides the narural beauty of the area it is brimming with a rich history.
We won't be far from Fort Henry and Fort Donnelson. They were civil war forts put in place to keep the Union forces from bringing supplies by boat into the south. It didn't work. A very young Gen U.S. Grant defeated a college friend of his at Fort Donnelson, a General Buckner. They had become friends at West Point Military Acad. Buckner had at one time helped pay Grants bills for him when he was in need.
During the battle, Buckner sent a messenger to see what "Terms" could be arranged for a surrender. Gen. Grant returned, "no terms except unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted. I propose to move immediately upon your works." After that it was said the U. S. in U.S. Grant stood for Unconditional Surrender. He later did accept some 'terms' at other surrenders.
Well it was 38 degrees here this morning with a high of about 70 with bright sunshine expected. The weather for the next couple of months is why we live in Nebraska and why I won't be wondering far from here again for a while. Well the weather... and the upcoming harvest.
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21 comments:
Hannibal is an odd name, kind of scares me... lol
Well, we live just west of Houston at Brookshire, TX. We had some wind and rain, but our "Jungle" reduced wind speed from 50-60 MPG to about 30. We slept through most of it. A lot of leafs and twigs are down, but no big branches. A lot of areas flooded around here, but we are high and dry.
No building damage and no extended power loss thank God. I have a stationary 10 KW generator that runs on bulk propane, but a rat chewed through the fan belt. That is one dead rat now. My Kohler rep is without power and it will be a while until I can get a replacement. Oh well, I knew I should have done a test run at the start of this season.
I'm sure we all join you in hoping everyone has escaped hurricane damage Cliff, we can only do a General Grant when it comes to fighting nature.
Ike came blowing through Indiana yesterday and was surprisingly still strong. Big wind gusts.
We've had the headquarters in Houston closed since Thursday noon. To open again tomorrow. Many co-workers stayed. As far as I know, everyone is safe. Some without power still.
I go down there on the 25th for a week. I hope the hurricane season is about over.
Are you getting the combine greased up?
Land Between the Lakes, KY. Isn't that south of Evansville, IN a bit?
Can Nora and I crash the reunion? We could be Glen & Lynn Morrow, the long lost family twins. Rachel could be our sister Mildred Morrow, better known as Midge. Jamie Dawn could be cousin Ida Mae Morrow from down in the holler. Jim can be Great Uncle Zeke from Texas. Ralph can just be Ralph, since you've already adopted him.
Have fun!
We had gorgeous Fall weather here yesterday. Fall is my favorite season. I had just come on duty Saturday when the command radio requested we standby by for an announcement from the Nat'l Weather Service. Ike would hit us in the next 30 minutes. Well, we had high winds ,rain and flooding, but Ike didn't travel far enough North and hooked East earlier than expected. We dodged a bullet, however, there are many in need of prayer. Did you see the photo of the alligator walking down the street in Sabine Pass?? BTW, I love visiting those historic sites, too.
Can't wait for "harvest" stories, they are always informative and entertaining. Sorry you guys got hammered with so much rain, but as you say the trip was worth it to find a famiy reunion spot. Hope your weather holds out. We had gusty winds yesterday, but it was pleasant once the humid air blew out of here. I love the autumn weather here on Long Island, can't wait for it to arrive. It is just my favorite time of year.
Autumn is the best time of year most places. Please God, we're all spared more devastating hurricanes.
We'll be looking forward to hearing about that family reunion.
Cliff
Glad your home. Sounds like a great place for the reunion.
Ralph
Hi Cliff! It sounds like a beautiful place for a family reunion.
I hope all those in the path of Ike are well. My friends sister lives in Texas. she was talking to her on the cell phone. They had already lost electric, had some flooding and lost a portion of roof, but other then that, weather the storm okay. Her son, who works in a hospital had asked her to go to his house and get his dogs, which she did. He called back later and asked if she would go and get his fish. All I'll say is it wasn't a favorable answer. It involved the "F" word and "they're fish. They can swim." Gotta hand it to those Texans. They have a sense of humor.
I think that U.S. Grant and I would have gotten along very well.
Well I have gabbed enough. I enjoyed this post. Lisa
Fall is awesome; it's what comes after that makes me want to move to Florida.
We once visited Hannibal, MO and took a tour of the Tom Awyer cave - it was really cool. You've picked a good place for your reunion. Can I come?
cliff - have a great harvest. We're about 50 days prior to our state's gubanatorial election and I feel like I'm running one of those old fertilizer wagons - anyway, there's a lot of s$%& flying around...
Marty
You did pick a nice place for your reunion! I have never been to the Land Between the Lakes, but I know it lovely. It's KY after all!!
I like Jerry's idea...I'm Midge Morrow,sister to Glen and Lynn the long lost twins!
Excellent choice, Bro! We're looking forward to #11 in beautiful Kentucky/Tennessee....Okie Sis
We've done some traveling too, also, as well.
It's good to be back home and hopefully staying home for awhile.
Hannibal, MO is not far from where The Reverend grew up. Most of his family lives in the St. Charles area.
I'm glad you took a trip and took in some historical data along the way.
Kentucky is Rachel's territory. I hope you got her permission to have the family reunion there.
What Rachel says goes. Period.
Rachel rules Kentucky.
:-)
About that big announcement to the family--of course you know that the entire family reads this blog!
Thanks for choosing a location closer to the Detroit outpost of the clan.
Cousin Dave
i was in missouri when i went out west 4 the granny dead thing...hannibel just sounds, well, like a set up..i mean..scary..
glad u made it back...
can i come to your renioun?
Hi Cliffers,
Sounds like a wonderful place for a family reunion.Best wishes to you, Marilyn and everyone for a fantastic one!
P.S. Don't be confused by the name on the link. (It's "Gel", but I decided to redo my blog and use my real name.)
Just for reunion.
Hi Cliff, thanks for your concern. We lost power for five days, Lucy lost hers for over a week. I had forgotten about Marc, he lives in a fairly wooded area and as close to the storm's furry as we were (a little farther away but the storm was stronger down his way).
We evacuated the morning, Wednesday, and power came back on that evening. We didn't come back till Friday evening. We stayed with Karen and Billy.
One of the things we did to break the 'nothing to do blahs' with our 12-year old granddaughter is here:
http://jimmiehov6.blogspot.com/
Your family reunion place seems about the time of Blogstock '09, do you think you could stay over and we could do that there this year? I'll bet it is a pretty place!
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