Well, sometimes a whole month can go by and it feels like nothing happened. That is what July was like. And maybe that is what summer months should be like. Of course, it is not quite correct to say that nothing happened.

I made my last trip to the blueberry farm, this time alone, because nobody else is addicted to the extent that I seem to be. The season is now officially over and I am planning to go every second week next year. There is nothing like fresh blueberries that you pick prom the tops of the bushes. We had to take a picture with some Japanese coins to convince Kumiko's mother that they are actually as big as we claimed.

The other remarkable event, and this shows you just how exciting July was, has to do with a house plant, more specifically a rubber tree. We had it in Dallas for a few years and then had the movers bring it down to Houston. It survived, in spite of having to spend 48 hours inside a moving van in Texas in June. However, it ended up looking rather scrawny, with only few leaves at the end of long, leafless branches. Kumiko decide to cut it back, hoping that it will put out new leaves and that the tips of the branches she put in the pot will root. The middle parts of the branches just ended up in the corner of a concrete driveway, to be thrown out when somebody got around to putting them in the garbage. This is where I found them. I was looking for stakes for green beans I just planted and these were just the right size. I stuck them in the ground and they did their job. We were amazed, however, when we noticed leaf buds on them. By now they already have several leaves and presumably well developed root network. I guess the humidity is good for something.

In terms of other events, Monica's summer vacation is almost over. She is going to the marching band camp now and school will start in about a week. I spend the last week in the Netherlands. It was a pleasant break from the heat here but there was too much work. Luckily the days are long this time of the year and so I was able to do some sightseeing after 9 p.m. every day. I never suspected that a geranium could be grown in the shape of a Christmas tree!

29 June 2001

It rained. Showers were expected from Friday through the weekend and so I decided to cut and trim the lawn immediately after coming back from work. I made it, by 5 p.m. the lawn was nicely cut and edged. After I took a shower it started to rain. And it rained. And rained. By about 6 p.m. we noticed that the street changed into a river. It was actually kind of entertaining. We heard about high water being part of the life in Houston and after a year here we were finally experiencing it. Before we bought the house we made sure it was outside the 100 year flood plain and so we were not too worried.

I even took an umbrella and went out to take a few pictures. And then it continued raining. At this point we started to worry a little bit. Monica had just started a part time job in a nearby restaurant and drove there on her own. We were hoping that by 10 o'clock the water will recede and she will be able to drive back without much problem. But it kept on raining. Big time. Like a shower in a luxury Saudi hotel. We started to watch the weather channel at this point. The color coded radar map showed all of Houston under a rain cloud. The intensities of the color changed from normal green through yellows to a deep red in the center. The red center was parked directly over our heads and refused to move. By 8 p.m., it became clear that Monica should not drive back on her own, in fact it became clear that driving anywhere would be a bad idea.

I got a change of clothes in a backpack for her and headed over to the restaurant on foot. It is only about 20 minute walk, so it was not a big deal. I followed the main street which is somewhat elevated and so there were only about 5 to 15 cm of water and some traffic. On all the side streets water was above the knees. Monica changed from her nice clothes and we started to walk back, taking advantage of elevated lawns. The only worry was that when the water is this high, snakes will look for high ground as well and might be easy to step on in the dark. Since some of them are venomous, it was not something we were looking forward to. Luckily all that happened was that we were both bitten by fire ants. When their nests get flooded they float and when they come into contact with anything living they obey their instinct and attack. It will be at least a week before the sores heal.

By the time we reached the house water was much higher than on the photo. It was about a meter from the front door, the drain in the back yard refused to accept more and water was surrounding the house on three sides now. The radar showed the same picture. The storm system set up a little counter clockwise conveyor belt, picking up moisture over the Gulf of Mexico and dropping it on our heads. Continuously. At this point we moved all the rugs and electrical appliances to the second floor. We tried to go to sleep, but with water at the front door it was difficult. Finally at about 2:30 in the morning the electricity went out. All we could hear was the rain and the frogs.

Since there was nothing to do we went to bed not knowing what we will wake up to the next day. On Saturday morning I looked out of the window and all the water was gone. I went downstairs, hoping not to find a buckled and destroyed hardwood floors. We were lucky. As you may have already seen on TV, others were not. About 15 people drowned, most in trying to get from their stalled cars. The most bizarre death was that of a woman who took the elevator to a basement garage to get her car. She did not realize the garage was already flooded. As the elevator doors opened, water rushed in. She did not have a chance. Not a pleasant way to go.

From talking to the neighbors afterwards it would appear that this was a truly exceptional storm. Many of them have lived here for 27 years and this was the worst they have seen. Good! I hope we do not see it again. And we will make sure to renew the flood insurance as long as we live here.

The worst flooding occurred in the area near downtown. I did not go to see it but here is a photo from the local paper. In case you have a hard time figuring out what it is, you are looking at half submerged 18 wheelers. For people who were flooded it was a truly miserable experience. You can tell which areas were badly hit because as you drive along you can see mountains of carpets and gyprock waiting to be picked up on the side of the street. Apparently, the storm generated as much garbage as the city of Houston normally does in a whole year.

This, of course, makes the garbage contractors (and anyone who can double as one) happy, also re-building contractors are happy, car rental agencies, car salesmen, carpet stores, appliance centers, mosquitoes, frogs. For all of them this was a big opportunity. I was not completely out of the beneficiary loop either. The basement of the building I work in was flooded and so I had unexpected three days off.


Among the less dramatic events of the months was our discovery that we live about a 30 minute drive from pick-your-own blueberry farm. The blueberries were very sweet, large and grew on monster bushes so that they could be picked without bending down (unless you know the European blueberries you will not appreciate the benefit). We quickly picked 10 kg ( and by a conservative estimate I ate about 2 kg). The freezer is full.



I took advantage of the little bit of extra spare time to complete another module of Spanish drills. This one deals with the use of definite and indefinite article and its occasionally absence. If you are interested, click here and you can copy it to your computer. Next month it will be moved to the Spanish page of this site to join the other four modules.





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