September 27, 2008. Western Head, N.S. Ike and Kyle

I knew it would be a mess, but the aftermath of Ike is even worse that I thought. My friend Alice Anne, who lives in the west end of Galveston sent us a report today. She and three friends are staying in League City, as their homes on the west can not be lived in, and there are trash and debris covering their yards several feet deep. A dock is in her pond, but it is not her dock. A roof is in her driveway, but it is not her roof. She reported that poking through the trash is similar to an Easter egg hunt, except it is more interesting. She has found jet skies, canoes, kayaks, propane tanks, life jackets. She also found her own canoe. Her barn was hardest hit.. The green house is gone. Her tractor died a Mariners death. Yesterday she hired a young man to help with the clean up. He expects it will take him at least three days of ten hours a day to get rid of the debris. Alive Anne has been back to her house three times. We wish her well.

Now here is the good part. She has been gathering objects that she no longer needed, and has been storing all this stuff in her barn, as she was preparing to have a barn/garage sale. Ike's surge cleaned her out. Everything in the barn has gone. No need to ask friends to help sort and price. It has taken her two years to collect all these treasures that she no longer needed or wanted, and in one gigantic wave, these treasures are gone. She should have donated them all to The Salvation Army, so she could get a tax deduction. She agrees with me that getting rid of all that stuff was a blessing. But she has a mess to get over now. Still no electricity or water, but soon all will be well. Again, we wish her well.

Kyle is coming into the Bay of Fundy. Folks here are not used to hearing that Hurricanes are coming to Nova Scotia. Five Years ago Juan blew into Halifax and blew down half their trees. We brought all the outside chairs into the garage and carriage house, so we are ready for the storm. The surfers were out in force this afternoon. We leave on Monday so we hope we can get up to Halifax and out of town. The storm is expected to go into New Brunswick, with winds and rains in Queen's county. For tonight, we will sleep well, but tomorrow will be interesting.