August 2017 – Kat's Eye View

A Donut, A Spider, and Me

A lot has happened this past week. It was the first week of school, a Lunar Eclipse happened that Monday, and then my family and I evacuated from a horrendous Hurricane named Harvey that Thursday. To keep my mind off the latter and all that it brought, I have been thinking about a recent event that happened all while wanting to enjoy a donut in Maryland.

This summer I got bit by a spider. It was a warm July day in Maryland. Evening was quickly approaching and my husband Lloyd, our friends Billy and Joy, and myself had just come from the wedding rehearsal of our good buddies Kenneth and Shannon. We had decided to stop at a Duncan Donuts for a quick snack before we would all have dinner later that night. The area we were in was beautiful. The sun was beginning to go down and the trees slowly swayed in the light breeze while the Marylanders complained about the cool 85 degree weather. All of us being from Texas, were enjoying this break from the scorching heat of 97 or higher degrees (with or without humidity) that we were normally subjected to. We thought it felt great! So much so, that we decided to enjoy our donuts at the tables that were outside of the establishment. This was probably around 7 something in the p.m., so I should have used more caution before deciding to have a donut.

This particular day I decided to have an apple fritter. I mean, why not? They’re good right????? Yes they are. So as soon as I received mine, naturally I bit into it. That wasn’t the best choice. I mean, I shouldn’t have chosen to do this so hastily. The freakin’ donut was hard, which I can only assume was from being out all day! This caused me to break my wire. I wear braces you see. Thank you DD for not changing out your donuts throughout the day. Quickly I began to panic. I was trying to run down the list of why this was a problem. Thank goodness it wasn’t poking me in the jaw, but I knew it would be difficult to eat, and possibly sing. I had been asked to sing in the wedding and didn’t want to mess Kenny and Shannon’s wedding day up by not being at my best. Kenny has heard me sing, but Shannon hasn’t. She was trusting the word of her future husband. Would this incident affect my singing? I was already nervous! So at this point, I was a tad a lot-a-bit irritable. With an attitude, I threw the donut away. If I was thinking clearly, I wouldn’t have paid for it.

As we sat outside so Lloyd, Billy, and Joy could enjoy their donuts and coffee, my bad mood began to leave. The conversations were going well and we were all excited about our close friend Kenny getting married. We were all eager to see this day come to pass. While sitting, I had been telling Joy how I always feel like something is stinging or biting me, but it’s always nothing. And then it happened. I felt a hard sting. I pulled my arm off the table and saw a tan-ish spider, that was as big as my pinky finger nail, in a tight ball under the spot where my arm was laying. We were sitting at one of those tables that is made to look netted, so there are holes in it.

I looked at where I was feeling a burning and announced, “I think I’ve been bitten by a spider”. No one moved because my company was now on their phones. I said it a little louder, and finally I got a response. *See here is my problem. It seems that the only time anyone hears me the 1^st time I speak, is when what I’ve said has been interpreted as rude…this is truly annoying!!!!*

So before we had time to catch the spider to determine if it was poisonous, my Knight in Shining Armor vanquished the evil creature by vigorously smiting him until nothing about him could be made out. It was most honorable! He then rushed to get me ice so that I could immediately place it upon my burning and possibly poisoned arm. We quickly located an urgent care and I was seen and prescribed antibiotics. Some tears were shed, due to online searching of what we remembered the spider to look like, which popped up as possibly being a type of Brown Recluse.

While at the urgent care the area on my arm where I was bitten, appeared to have dented in. This caused some more internal panic, self-encouragement, and quiet tears. I had been bitten on my right arm, my dominate arm. The arm I hold the microphone with to sing! I had already been thinking about a friend from college that had been bitten by a Brown Recluse and how her arm looked after the bite…frightful!

We weren’t able to have that dinner, but the next day I sang in the wedding with my broken wire not being an issue and it appears I wasn’t poisoned. I can still see the 2 bite marks, but sadly no super powers…yet. 🙂

Day 4: Escape from Hurricane Harvey

Harvey came in quite differently than his brother Ike from nine years ago. He wants to stay awhile and not be overlooked. Harvey is surely attempting to not be looked at as just the younger brother that came and went. His older brother Ike didn’t come to play games either and changed how people thought Hurricanes were supposed to behave, just as their older twin sisters Katrina and Rita did in 2005. Harvey is out to prove a point. He is the “long night”.

Monday, August 28, 2017 It is now day 4 that my husband, myself, my mother-in-law, and my sister-in-law, have been in Dallas. Unfortunately, we aren’t here for a vacation. This is the city I lived most of my life in so it is definitely home, and I always dream of moving back here, but this time we came here due to a stranger thing named Harvey. Harvey came in quite differently than his brother Ike from nine years ago. He wants to stay awhile and not be overlooked. Harvey is surely attempting to not be looked at as just the younger brother that came and went. His older brother Ike didn’t come to play games either and changed how people thought Hurricanes were supposed to behave, just as their older twin sisters Katrina and Rita did in 2005. Harvey is out to prove a point. He is the “long night”.

Thursday afternoon my husband texted me, while I was at work, to let me know that we would be leaving as soon as I returned home from work. His sister and mom would be meeting us at our home and we would be headed for Dallas. My district waited until that evening to inform the staff, faculty, and parents that there would be no school for the following day…. The news told the city of Galveston that they were under mandatory evacuation, but other cities around the Houston/Galveston area were on voluntary evacuation. They stated that if you left Friday morning that would be fine, but you didn’t really have to leave Thursday Night. My husband had experienced the chaos that was Harvey’s big sister Rita, so he wasn’t taking any chances. We both, along with the rest of America, had seen what the water did when her twin sister Katrina visited New Orleans. I didn’t fight this decision or ask a thousand questions about it. I was anxious to see how this Hurricane would pan out. Would it really be worse than Ike and bring all that the meteorologists were saying and showing? We packed up a few necessities and drove to Dallas. While here my husband and I have been going around with wide eyes seeing how much my city has expanded, but our hearts aren’t really here. We can’t help but try to keep up with all that is going on back home. We continue to call, text, and Facebook all that we know and love. Hearing about how friends had to flee to their attics because of homes being flooded with 4+ feet of water and having to cut holes in their roofs to be rescued out is heartbreaking. Some were even rescued out of their cars while attempting to drive to higher ground. Usually when Houston floods, Dickinson and other cities south don’t have this type of impact or anything close to what is happening now even though we are closer to the Gulf of Mexico. This time, the Dickinson Bayou grew and burst forth even before the rains came. The rains did come later in the night. There was no time to leave Friday morning!

Dickinson is under water. This is the city my husband grew up in. My love for this small city that lies 23 miles south of Houston (depending on what part of Houston you want to go to the distance is much shorter) and 24 miles north of Galveston, only grew when I became a teacher here. My husband and I have hundreds of students here along with close friends and family here. Watching The Weather Channel and their continuous reporting on the city of Dickinson, we can’t help but get emotional, as we see what should be a parking lot now be used as a place where boats, canoes, kayaks, and sea-doos sail people to safety. Seeing all of those people that are just now leaving, makes you wonder if they truly thought they could “Hunker Down” as it is called, or did they just not have a place to go. Attempting to evacuate any place requires finances. There are so many people who are afraid to leave their homes, even after the warnings that water and electricity will be shut off in the city. They are wanting to be near family, but they aren’t listening to all of their family. They aren’t thinking about how others in their family want them to find safety. They aren’t thinking about how they need to obey the police, the national guard, and the news’ warnings about Harvey awakening from his slumber only to bring more devastation. Not only is more water a problem tornadoes are a threat too.

So many people want to leave, but they can’t. A daughter wanting to leave and save herself and her children, but her older mother not wanting to leave or not physically being able to just get up and go. A son in the same situation choosing to stay because their older mother refuses to go. What do these adult children do? It’s not fair! When can we say to parents, “Well I’m looking out for me and mine?” Or does this approach sound too selfish? Yet isn’t the parent being selfish in not wanting to be helped or to listen to their child?

So many people are trying to figure out why this is happening. I don’t know why and as of right now I don’t care. I just know it is happening. I don’t care if this is a storm created by the Elite to once again attempt to wipe out those that are considered less than due to their financial situation, race, or age; or if this is a natural storm that is happening due to it being Hurricane Season. These people have lost everything. All they pretty much have are the wet clothes they are currently wearing and hopefully some shoes. Infants and pets are confused and everyone is in desperate places. People’s homes and livelihoods have been destroyed. God please help us!

Here is my prayer and I ask you readers to pray it too: God, please hear our prayer. No matter if this is a man-made storm or one created by nature, please hear the cries of your people. I know that all things work together for your good, and we don’t always understand why things happen when they do, but please make the rain and Harvey go away.

There are 50 more inches of rain to come…Prayers going out to the people of Rockport, Corpus Christi, Houston, Dickinson, League City, Webster, Pasadena, Pearland, Friendswood, Manvel, Alvin, LaMarque, Sugarland, Fort Bend, Galveston, Katy, Spring, Aransas Pass, Bay City, and every city and family affected by Hurricane Harvey.

All pictures curtesy of Yahoo Images and The Weather Channel

Comfortable Conversation

My circle is extremely small and those few people KNOW me. They know when I am uncomfortable and they know when I need to recharge. They can also tell if I am saying things because I am uncomfortable, and not because I am trying to be rude.

Conversing is a skill that must be taught and people soon learn that there are different conversations for different audiences. Conversation and comfort go hand in hand. You should be comfortable with those you are speaking with. What about those times that you are forced into places with people you aren’t as comfortable with, but conversation is expected?

I love being around my circle of friends or my closest family members. These are the people I feel most comfortable around. I don’t feel pressure to force a conversation or to end the awkward silence that has pushed its way into the car or room. I’m not concerned with what they are thinking or how they feel about me. My circle is extremely small and those few people KNOW me. They know when I am uncomfortable and they know when I need to recharge. They can also tell if I am saying things because I am uncomfortable, and not because I am trying to be rude. That’s another topic to write about later.

I am an introvert and I am most comfortable being around those that I know and I am uncomfortable around those that I don’t know. I am an Introvert not by choice, but that’s the way it is. Growing up and even through college, I was unaware of this characteristic. I enjoyed, and still enjoy, going out and having fun with friends, but I also prefer to be by myself. I am an only child, but that too is another writing topic for later. In college, my friends and I would often go out, but I was with those I felt most comfortable around, so I was okay. After graduating college I didn’t understand why I preferred to be home and not out with others. It wasn’t until I watched a YouTube video to see what an Introvert and Extrovert was, that I made the connection. I also realized that I had married an Extrovert, which explained why he was always the life of the party that I was eagerly trying to get away from.

There are times when I cannot be my true introverted self, such as in my classroom. I must talk with my students and their parents, or the year will not go well. Education, like other jobs under the umbrella of customer service, must have communication between the company and their clients or stakeholders. This is something I have to do, but oddly enough, in my classroom I feel very comfortable. I am nervous, but I get through it.

Often when I am around others or in places that I do feel uncomfortable, the only thing that is on my mind is the great escape. I am determined to figure out how I cannot be around these tormentors; these people that I don’t know but have to be around. I try with all of my might to think of something in order to strike up a conversation. I am aware of the awkward silence and the need for talking, but I just don’t know what to say. I also want whatever is said to come out sounding like I am truly genuine in my questions and conversations. I feel like it would be obvious if I wasn’t genuine. All of this wanting to converse exhausts me. Along with feeling uncomfortable my energy is drained. I need to gain my strength back in the presence of isolation. Oh Solitude, what sweet joyous songs you sing to me when it is just the two of us! Having this characteristic is very challenging when this issue is continued for multiple days. It wouldn’t be too bad if this discomfort didn’t come from those I now must claim as family. How can I get to know you, when it is obvious you are uncomfortable with me, but you bring friends and family around as distractions for you to be comfortable? Hopefully I am wrong, but that’s how it seems. I don’t need to get to know them, just you. Only those that think they know me, see these challenges as social anxiety.

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