Hurricane Ike update

A quick update, via borrowed Internet access:  We lucked out, in that our Houston home and most others on our block came through pretty much unscathed, unlike many in the area.  Before the rain
had even stopped, just about every able-bodied male on the block had
emerged with saws, etc., to clear away downed trees from the street and
from people’s driveways; the same thing has been happening all across
the region.  The lack of electricity and Internet access has been a pain, because I haven’t been able to work (I’m writing from a borrowed office that has both), but the weather
has been unseasonably pleasant, so the lack of air conditioning at home hasn’t
been the problem we expected.  Others have it far worse, e.g., in
Galveston.  We’ve passed some of the time pitching in a bit with
various recovery efforts, along with many, many others — pardon my
chauvinism, but that’s just what Americans in general, and Texans in
particular, do.