It was about 2200 hours last night that I remembered that I had not written my blog for the day. So, I'm sorry I missed you. But, in my defense, it ws a busy day. Saturday, Ms. Kate and I went to Lowes and I picked up 21 bags of mulch to put on flowerbeds. That equates to about one and a third cubic yards. Yesterday, I got that all spread on the tree flowerbeds in the back yard. We were projected to have rain yesterday and today and I hoped that I would beat the rain so the mulch wouldn't be wet when I tried to spread it. Well, my self-serving prayer was answered and and not only did it not rain yesterday, but it looks like it might not rain today which means I can get out to the front of the house and work on another flowerbed and prep it for mulch; --- assuming of course that I can get up and down on and offof the ground. I'm a bit sore and stiff today.

My heart and prayers continue to go out for the people of the Texas coast and what they are having to deal with from Hurricane turned tropical storm, Harvey. I just can't imagine what they must be going through and what they will be going through for months and maybe years to come. How far down the emotional pipeline would a person slide if they had to endure constant rain for a solid week? How emotionally draining would it be to have you house fill up with three feet of water from rain with no relief in sight. Neighborhoods are essential gone from wind volocity damage and all infrastructure suddenly under water. Roads in and out of a vast area are now lakes. Major interstates are washed out. All of that water has to go somewhere and that means it has to eventually get back to the Gulf of Mexico, but those rivers are going to be a long time getting back to normal, and when they do ---- people will have nothing to return to. ------------ The bright side, and it indeed a bright side is that America is stepping up. America is responding to that crisis and people from all of the country are volunteering and doing what they can to help. The racial tension and divide that is fracturing the morale of the nation has been set aside for at least the moment and people of every race and color are holding hands to help rescue people and donating to the Red Cross and volunteering to go help; bcause that is what the real American spirit is all about. I would never say that God caused this to happen but I would say that it has provided an opportunity for people to turn from themselves and turn to God. Frankly, I don't know how a person could go though this and not have their faith to rely on.

The unfortunate part of this thing is that once the rain has stopped and the water has receded, people will tend to forget and consider it over. Today is the "anniversary" of Hurricane Katrina which wiped out a major portion of New Orleans ten years ago. People in that city are still in recovery mode in some places but it is hard to get volunteers to go help. Joplin, MO was devastated by a tornado five years ago and people have forgotten that there are still lives being effected by that. Houston and the surrounding cities will be in a recovery mode for a decade or more. So, I offer prayers this morning for them and pray that God will walk with them and continue to give them strength. I pray for all of those who have lost family members through this and for all of those who have lost homes and livelihoods. May God have mercy on them and shower them with grace. I pray that the American people will not forget this tragedy and or "grow tired" of hearing about it. I pray God will make us united people once again.

Peace.