Getting Back to Normal #HoustonStrong

This is my mantra!

I'm trying to get back to normal.

The new normal, not the old normal that existed prior to my younger daughter's first back surgery last year.

The new normal means doing twice as much in a shorter amount of time because I have many more family responsibilities now that keep me from devoting each day to writing.

Even though I have today to write, I'm finding it hard to get back into DEAD HEAT, the novella I had planned to put up for pre-release August 29.

It was going to be August, but HARVEY changed that.

Hurricane Harvey put the kibosh on that goal. I have the file open on my computer, but my head isn't in the game. However, when I finish this post, I'll tackle DEAD HEAT because it's good escapism. An escape from the wet smell in the upstairs would be a good thing.

Besides, sometimes you just have to "grind it out" as the pro golfers say.

From August 25 on, everything in my world has centered around Hurricane Harvey.

Even though the storm finally departed, the damage left behind is ever present. All conversations seem to always end up with talk of the hurricane.

All About Harvey

You go to any store or business in Houston, and you're asked, "How did you make out in the hurricane?"

You chat with your neighbors, and it's a discussion of where milk can be found, or whether Home Depot has restocked with crowbars, microban anti-mold spray, and Kilz products.

You find yourself glued to the TV when the news comes on, even though you've seen countless scenes of the destruction. Each day seems to bring another mandatory evacuation (the rivers that flow through Texas are all at flood stage).

You don't drive anywhere without checking to see if the roads you normally use are under water. (My heart goes out to the commuters who had to go back to work today. Drive times tripled in some cases.)

Numbers Tell The Story

There are lots of inconveniences, but everyone who came through without a flooded home or vehicle feels blessed and grateful. The rain came: 51.88 inches. No place can take that without flooding.

Homes damaged or destroyed: 184,149 at last count. Many of them were not in a flood zone. Many in 100-year flood plains flooded for the first time.

Sixty people in Texas died in the storm.

Nearly 1 million vehicles flooded.

J. J. Watt's Foundation You Caring

If You'd Like to Donate

If you'd like to donate for the victims of Hurricane Harvey, these are the two organizations that use nearly all the donated funds for victims. (Some of the biggest help organizations use too much of the funds received for overhead.)

J. J. Watt started You Caring under the auspices of the J. J. Watt Foundation which donates to many good causes including education and literacy. He has already raised over $20 million for Hurricane Harvey Relief.

Salvation Army

The other organization is the well-known Salvation Army which does far more than ring bells at Christmas.

Takeaway Truth

With a little help from our friends, we'll all get through this. The motto, Houston Strong, is a good one because we'll all work to not just survive, but to prevail. We're Houston Strong which is also Texas Strong.

Thank you, America, for caring.