Evacuation
I'll be honest... although the effects of Hurricane Harvey were catastrophic to the southeast coast of Texas, the experience of my first hurricane storm was relatively anti-climactic. Luckily, my sister and her husband were very prepared in case shit hit the fan. My mom and I decided to spend these desperate times with them.
On Saturday afternoon, the water level on my sister's property began rapidly rising. Of course I was napping so my mom woke me with the news that we had to evacuate so I immediately hopped out of bed mid-REM to frantically gather our things and throw them in the transport.
We were only a nerve wracking two miles away from the safe house, a bougie AF estate occupied by family friends. They kept us dry, put food in our stomachs, offered us beds and entertained us for a couple days. There were many pupper-doggo friends, all the chess our brains could take, and a game of "name that tune" with vinyl records from the 60's to 80's. We couldn't be more thankful for their hospitality and keeping us distracted from the tragedies that were taking place within miles from us.
It was sunny today. The severity of the conditions subside as the storm moves east, but I just got word that there are more tropical storms developing on the gulf? Just another sign that I need to get my ass back to Alaska soon...
It's been five days since Harvey has kidnapped me from my normal schedule of sinking my ship into the sheets of my bed, swallowing my entire being, thoughts, and integrity... just some of the many side effects of this depression I have been struggling with. Although I am thankful for the change of pace that Harvey's curve balls have been pitched to me, I hit three strikes. Between the usual lack of sleep, my three, five and ten year old nieces running around, playing one moment and bickering the next, screaming at the top of their lungs and three of their other chaperones constantly demanding their indoor voices and respect, I am exhausted and ready to go back to routine of doing whatever it is I do, moping in isolation, and trying to make sense of everything by therapeutically manifesting whatever fruitions I have fathomed.
I'm disappointed with having to cancel my first therapy session and reschedule due to weather conditions, as I was looking forward to some much needed counseling, but here are some raptor friends in the mean time:
Sincerely, J.