Here in Austin, we really were fortunate over the weekend. Hurricane Harvey (later downgraded to a Tropical Storm while parked over us) only brought some wind and rain to the area. It hardly even rained 45 minutes to the west of us – which is incredibly fortuitous because that means there was no rain upstream from us. So we didn’t flood. And after seeing the images and reading posts from friends in the Houston area, I know how lucky we are to be experiencing cloudless blue skies that past couple of days. We didn’t even have the usual flooding that we normally experience during pounding rain. And the way that my condo is situated, I was blocked from the wind as well. So, for me the storm was a bit longer lasting than the typical rains we get, but nothing that even made me worry about whether my windows would leak. Heck, even my cat didn’t go run and hide like she normally does during storms!
The only thing that I did notice was my head was killing me most of the weekend. Anytime the atmospheric pressure changes, I get headaches. This weekend, I ended up with migraines – which wasn’t fun but I would rather experience that than watching my house flood, watching my neighborhood be obliterated, watching my loved ones be swept downstream in raging waters. I wrote before about gratitude and how much being grateful can shift your world in ways big and small. And I was extraordinarily grateful this past weekend that I only had migraines to worry about.
If you’d like to help those Texans less fortunate, there are a number of ways you can do so. I’m donating an entire set of bedroom furniture as well as a bunch of clothes, toiletries, and linen to the Salvation Army (which is my charity of choice) and well as cash and some pet supplies to Austin Pets Alive. But there are a bunch of other organizations that are reputable that are working to help as well. If you’re interested, the NY Times had a great article that list very worthwhile organizations. Americans are a strange bunch: we fight and divide over any issue that we can think of; but in times of crises, we can also pull together and help each other any way we can. I’m hoping that this spirit of unity, that we’re all in this together lasts longer than it takes to dry out Texas and Louisiana.