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Yay, power back on according to a phone call from my neighbor. Now, time to clean up over the next couple days before heading on the road to shoot a wedding. Just in time!

Finally got back online today. Fortunately, Nicole had power virtually the entire time. My house is without power, but no damage. Comcast turned itself back on last night and I’m getting caught up with my online stuff.

I took about 200 photos that I hope to process and post today and tomorrow. Pretty crazy stuff out there.

All of my family and friends are safe. Only a couple small reports of homes hit by trees, but no loss of life or injury. Woo hoo!

In general, it has seemed to me that the government response in Houston has been excellent. I can’t speak for some of the outlying areas, but Mayor White and Judge Emmot have done a good job keeping us informed and moving quickly despite the endless grousing of ABC 13’s Miya Shay.

Let me just say a word about this. Within 48 hours of Ike leaving the city, there were POD’s (God help us with that damn acronym, which is more annoying than “hunker down” at this point) open for people in numerous locations with food, water and ice. In a disaster, that’s pretty damn impressive.

I know that we as a society are really impatient, but what the hell did anyone expect? Shay went after the mayor and judge over and over and over to the point I wanted to go down to city hall and personally ask her to shut the fuck up. I know you are trying to become part of Wayne’s World, but give it a rest. Cops and volunteers have not only been at POD’s but at shelters and even at grocery stores and gas stations controlling traffic.

Considering the size of this city and the scope of the disaster in the area, that’s freaking amazing.

On a positive note about 13, kudos to them for Twittering throughout the storm. Way to use technology!!!

My UPS is up…and beeping even though the power is out. Chilling and checking the web. Great site for watching all local streaming tv online:

http://www.maroonspoon.com/wx/ike.html

Rain and wind is NASTY outside. Been like this for over an hour. Mother Nature just reminding us who’s in charge.

All the best to the people of Galveston. Scary, scary conditions down there.

I’m in the Heights still with power at 11pm. Just heard a reporter on channel 11 say he had been listening to “I Can See Clearly Now” by Otis Redding. Um, hey, reporter dude? That song is actually by Johnny Nash, Houston native who may even be “hunkering down” during Ike.

Stay safe, everyone.

Eric Berger, the Chron’s SciGuy, has, as usual, been doing a fantastic job discussing Hurricane Ike. Eric is someone I know personally and I know how hard the guy works. I have a lot of respect for his knowledge about this subject.

I also know he has a really good sense of humor, which is necessary when he takes questions during his daily chats this past week. If it isn’t “should we chain our dog to the tree during the hurricane” which he responded to “would you like to be tied to a tree during a hurricane?”, it’s “how bad will it be _____?”

I personally loved the person who asked if his Direct TV dish would become a “deadly missle” or the the person named “Ike” who said, “I just want to apologize in advance.” Awesome.

But, what has become a running joke is the number of people who ask about how bad things will be in Katy. It seemed like every 5 or 6 questions someone else would chime in with “How bad will the winds be in Katy” or “Should I put my lawn furniture in - I live in Katy.” What’s the damn deal with Katy? I see far fewer questions for central Houston, the Woodlands, Spring, Kingwood and even places like Jersey Village. Some of those places are much closer than you folks in Katy.

So, simmer down Katy-ites. You’ll be fine.

Well, it’s hurricane season…again. Welcome to life on the Gulf Coast.

Hurricane Ike is heading straight for the Houston/Galveston area with borderline category 2/3 wind but with a storm surge bigger than anything the Texas Gulf Coast has seen since the devastating storm of 1900. It is very possible that the entire island of Galveston will be submerged under 10-12 feet of water for an entire day.

For us in the central Houston area, we’re likely to get category 1 strength winds in the neighborhood of what we got during Hurricane Alicia back in 1983. I remember that storm. It sucked.

Unfortunately, the winds will sustain themselves longer than Alicia because the size of Ike is ginormous (that’s a scientific term). Most of the Greater Houston area will experience hurricane force winds. Fun, fun.

Even better, the worst of the storm will be between 1am and 8am tomorrow making it just a joy to sit in the pitch black and listen to the howling winds.

I boarded up my house yesterday and it is safe. I may spend the evening with friends just to avoid having to ride this out by myself, but I’m not worried about anything devastating - just a lot of wind, some rain and clean up to do Sunday.

Does anyone else find it ironical that Tina Turner will be in Houston a week from Monday…right after Ike blows through and bitch slaps the city? Hmmmm…

Stay safe.

Ok, so this is a soybean field, but whatever…stop being so picky!!!

I traveled with Nicole to her parents’ home in a small town near Des Moines, Iowa on Friday for a visit. It was a long 16-hour trip, but I really didn’t find the drive too bad. I like driving though and I’m weird, so whatever.

On Saturday, we had breakfast at a little diner called the Snacktime Family Restaurant in Nevada (pronounced nah-VAY-duh), just a few miles from her parents’ home in Cambridge (metropolis of 800). GREAT breakfast as you might imagine and everyone knows everyone. Much of the weekend has been spent helping her mom clean out the house of Nicole’s grandmother who recently moved to an assisted living facility, so I’ve met a lot of family who have been to town on the long holiday weekend.

Nicole’s parents are fantastic people - very easy going and as hospitable as you would imagine. They have a really lovely home with a giant basement of which I am envious. Why don’t we have basements in Houston? Oh, right, the flooding. Well, maybe a basement pool then? Ok, maybe not.

Saturday evening, we went into Des Moines to have dinner with a friend of Nicole’s. Django is a French restaurant in downtown Des Moines with FANTASTIC food. Very reasonable and I had the best country style macaroni casserole in history. Honest to God. It was crazy good. Before food, we stopped by to visit a friend who has a clothing shop in Des Moines (Aimee’s). Like most of the people here, very nice.

Sunday was spent handling more stuff for Nicole’s grandma, who is VERY sweet. We also had a “loose meat sandwich” at a place called Starbuck’s (not the one you think) in Nevada…or Huxley…I get the towns mixed up. For the uninitiated, a loose meat sandwich is like halfway between a burger and a sloppy Joe…and damn tasty.

Nicole’s dad graciously drove me around the corn and soybean fields to take photos like the one above. He even picked a couple ears for me to look at close up. It’s beautiful and sunny here with high’s in the 80’s. It’s like late October in Houston.

Last night we went into Ames, home of Iowa State University. We walked around campus and had food at a new Indian restaurant.

So far, it’s been a lot of fun and a good reason for getting out of town for a few days. We head back tomorrow and hopefully avoid the rain from Gustav. One thing is for sure, after experiencing mornings in the 50’s this week, I am more than ever ready for fall.

I haven’t posted much about my life in a while, so I thought I might just drop in a little info for those of you who pay attention to such things. It’s been a good summer for the most part. It has gone very quickly.

But, we’re currently in the dead zone - the hottest time of the year with no basketball, no regular season football, hurricane season in full swing and the new tv season not yet started. It’s the time of year when I just sit around waiting on October. Granted, with the VERY early appearance of humming birds and pecans falling off mine and my neighbor’s trees by the bushel, I’m not sure how much summer we have left, but it’s still damn hot outside. And, while this summer has gone more quickly because I’ve had more to do (thanks to my new gf, who is awesome thankyouverymuch), this fall is going to be out of control busy.

In September, I’ll be traveling to Boston (via Ashville, NC, Washington DC and New York City) to shoot a wedding with my good friend and photography partner, Katya. When I get back, I’m turning right around just a couple weeks later to go with the band to the same general area (New York, New Jersey, Connecticut) to do shows up in the northeast for a week.

That will be followed shortly thereafter by a trip to Iowa to visit the home of my aforementioned girlfriend. I haven’t traveled this much since 2006 and it has been a LONG time since I’ve taken multiple road trips in the same year, let alone within the span of a few months. I’m really looking forward to it though. It’s going to be a blast.

Speaking of blasts, I’m anxiously awaiting the first blast of cool air for Houston in months. I don’t think we’ll be seeing it for another six or eight weeks, but I can dare to dream.

Yeah, I know.

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Um, did you mean “PICK?” Oh, Associated Press, how could you?

So, Nedra Pickler (no relation to Kelly that I know of), tell us how you really feel.

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