A panini lunch treat for a stormy vacation day
When I woke up this morning, Husband Walter greeted me with, “This is going to be a vacation day.” That could mean a number of alternatives, all enjoyable. This time it meant a visit to Coffee Fusion.
Hubby and I have been scarfing up any information we could about Hurricane Isaac and preparing for the visit of such an unwelcomed visitor for the past few days. Hubby has done the heavy lifting. I have been in charge of staying out of his way and conducting any fretting that I deemed necessary.
As Isaac slowly eased westward, school districts on the Mississippi Gulf Coast announced school closures, usually for today and Wednesday. That meant Hubby was not waking up at 5 a.m. today to pilot a huge yellow school bus full of students on three different routes morning and afternoon.
Isaac’s promised rain and winds had not yet arrived. Sunshine was intermittent with cloudiness so we headed to the coffee shop a few blocks away for the first activity of our "vacation day." A good crowd of regulars was there, enjoying coffee and conversation. We settled in with our coffee, tea and computers.
Several guys from a “regulars” group dropped by our table with questions and observations about my stroke recovery. They volunteered that they would keep me on their churches’prayer lists.
Another enriching encounter was catching up with Judy. She and I went to church together about 15 years ago when she was a single mom raising two bright little girls who had inherited her dark hair and eyes and her amiable, can-do spirit. I had not seen her in years. The unexpected opportunity for an update on her now-grown daughters, her remarriage and the births of two more youngsters now 10 and 8 was a treat.
Judy had pursued college studies while still a single mom. She recently completed a master’s in family counseling and is now interning at a local residential, faith-based drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility. I am so thankful for and proud of her and her determination, perseverance, and steadfast trust in God’s faithfulness to light her path. That there are parents and offspring like Judy and her family give me such a sense of hope.
We ended our Coffee Fusion visit with a panini lunch. Afterwards I watched and waited inside the coffee shop as Hubby hauled our computers out to our van for our departure. The moment he opened a door and put the computers in the van, a feeder band from Isaac arrived. I burst out laughing at what happened next. Sudden rain had dumped on my hubby in a near solid waterfall then eased to a drizzle.
He returned inside to collect me and to put up with some good-natured ribbing from other patrons who had witnessed that particular rain event. When we exited the van at home, there was no rain, but we were still under a hurricane watch as well as a tornado watch.
My vacation day delights continued with a not quite ready for prime-time rendition of the happy birthday song delivered via phone to grandson Nate, who celebrated his eighth birthday today.
In return I got an enlightening and fascinating education about the Legos of my grandchildren’s generation, including Lord of the Rings sets, dinosaur sets and more. Once the goodbyes ended, his mom Sarah and I spent awhile reminiscing about his one-year birthday party.
Grandson Nate
Thanks to Katrina the large cook-out and family celebration our daughter-in-law Sarah and son Walt had planned for Aug. 28, 2005, morphed into cake and ice cream with fellow evacuees at our evacuation site, my mother’s home in Hattiesburg, MS. Hubby and I had evacuated from the coast and Sarah and the boys joined us from their home nearby. Our son was at the power company’s Hattiesburg command center.
The birthday boy didn’t seem to mind the small group. The next day Katrina arrived with fury, toppling a huge pine tree across the back of my mother’s home, including the bedrooms where Luke and Sarah were napping. We hustled the very pregnant Sarah, the little boys and my 86-year-old mother into a safer corner of the house. I suspect Nate’s birthday will always prompt me to whisper a thank-you prayer for the lives and well-being of loved ones.
It is about 10:25 p.m. CST here; things seem calm; and we are waiting for what happens next!
Husband Walter posted more about Isaac here today.