7 Responses to “Winter in Maine…”

1. skudrunner
   February 19th, 2009 @ 11:08 am

   I’ll take sunshine and 70

2. Grant in Texas
   February 19th, 2009 @ 1:08 pm

   After a week of 70’s and low 80’s, the rains of the past few days has us in the 60’s now for the next week. I did get 6 flats of pansies planted in front of the house and some crape myrtles pruned (I still have plenty of pruning of oleanders and photinias to keep me busy).

   We won’t have a cloud in our blue skies for a couple of days but we may have rain again Saturday night. We need the rain after the fourth driest January in a century but Galveston’s Mardi Gras parades of last weekend were mostly rained out and the biggest Mardi Gras parades (Krewe of Momus, Krewe of Aquarius) are this weekend and that still devastated city needs a financial bump.

   In past years over 200,000 (mostly Houstonians) drive down to the coast to pump money into their economy. About 60% of the island’s restaurants, clubs, and shops have been able to reopen since Hurricane Ike after having 7 feet of salt water flood over 90% of the city. Sadly, the main trees in the city, huge spreading 100 year-old live oaks that turned many streets into canopied thoroughfares, have mostly been killed by the salt water, so the city of oaks only has mostly palm trees and Norfolk pines left that were not killed by salt. It will be some years before Galveston looks like it once did.

3. Grant in Texas
   February 19th, 2009 @ 1:09 pm

   After loudly pandering to his base saying Texas would refuse its $16.9 BILLION share of the stimulus package, Gov. Rick “39%” Perry today says he will go ahead now and accept the funds even though he still opposes the outlay. Gov. Mark Sanford (R-SC) also says that he will do the same and take the funds allotted to his state.

4. skudrunner
   February 19th, 2009 @ 1:47 pm

   They will all take the money because the backlash would be horrendous.

   I have heard little about the recovery in Galveston, how is it progressing. It use to be a neat city with a lot of character but I assume the landscape has changed with the devastation they had.
   Did this affect Padre?

5. Grant in Texas
   February 19th, 2009 @ 3:45 pm

   Padre Island, 200 miles to the South, was not affected by Ike but it was hit and suffered a little ($1.5 BILLION) earlier in the year when Hurricane Dolly passed through last July.

   Nearly the whole city of Galveston looks like New Orlean’s 9th ward except Galveston was soon forgotten, thanks in part to the MSM covering the election and failing economy. We’ve had neglect from FEMA (which still never learned that well from Katrina), the insurance companies, and there was NO Anderson Cooper here twice a month to focus on the city’s needs and show them to the world. Even the Clinton-Bush Initiative which raised $115 million for Katrina’s victims has only been able to raise $2.5 million for Galveston. While national philanthropy raised $6.4 BILLION for Katrina’s victims, so far The Ike Relief Fund has raised only $11.8 MILLION which includes almost $2 million raised by singer Neil Diamond.

   Even though Ike was the THIRD MOST DESTRUCTIVE natural disaster in U.S. history ($28.2 billion damages) leaving 103 direct deaths, 92 indirect deaths, 34 missing, Ike has become Katrina’s forgotten stepbrother. Katrina left $89.6 BILLION in damages and Andrew left Florida with $40.7 BILLION in damages (adjusted to 2008 dollars).

   Galveston’s largest employer (once having 13,000 employees), the University of Texas Medical Branch had over $700 million in damages and was only insured for $150 million so it is largely shut down. The Shriner’s Burn Hospital there, one of the world’s best, may never reopen due to damages and a fall of philanthropy. Tourism is the biggest industry, but 40% of businesses are still closed. The Texas A&M Marine Branch has moved back after spending last semester in College Station. Only 3/4 of students have returned to public schools with many residents still scattered elsewhere in the state. I have only visited there twice since Ike and always leave the island feeling depressed.

6. JFH
   February 19th, 2009 @ 5:58 pm

   Umm, Kay, off topic, but your current “Random Header Image” is the equivalent of the Confederate battle flag to most of Japan’s neighbors (e.g. Philippines, China, Korea, Indonesia etc.) as this represents the worst of the oppression by Japanese forces during WWII.

   You may want to change it, otherwise, someone might think you support the systematic use of rape, torture and murder that occurred during Japanese occupation of these nations. (Yes, this last sentence is facetious in nature, based on how you assumed racism in a political cartoon)

7. kayinmaine
   February 19th, 2009 @ 6:12 pm

   Well, if I could figure out how to change it I would JFH. Any suggestions?