Jeanne had bad breath!

[D.R. Cattle]

Well I'm still alive. A few folks weren't so fortunate. Took me all of Friday night to get the packinghouse prepared for her, barely had time to get my own home ready. By then it was too late to evacuate. Rode her out and I'm still trying to get my undedrshorts clean as a result. Got an insurance check just in time to get my roof repaired before the storm. No water damage thank the lord. Just more shingles missing. Before the storm poured on the coals, my wife decided to anoint our front door with oil; sort of an Old Testament thing called "The Passover". Friends let me tell you, that has to be the only reason my home is still standing. All through the night, to hear jeanne howling, to hear things banging on the roof, and to make worse, hearing that classic train coming down the tracks a couple of times. She blew so hard, rain squirted through thru the keyhole of my front door as if someone were standing outside with a pressure cleaner spraying the handle. My pump, tank and water softener were ripped from the side of the house and tossed to the driveway like napkins. Huge trees were snapped like toothpicks. My neighbors 5th wheel trailers were rolled like tonka toys. His roof was ripped from his home like a doll house. Through it all, God's hand kept Jeanne's breath from doing any more than removing a few shingles from my home. Tractor trailers are rolled over like toys. Steel I-beams in metal buildings look like crumpled bailing wire. 3 feet of sand is on the streets of the barrier island. Mobile homes looked like house boats on Sunday morning. Debris from a mobile home park litters one of my lease pastures. The park is 2 miles away. Concrete telephone poles are snapped with the rebar still protruding from them. Vero Beach airport clocked sustained winds of 126 MPH, with higher gusts. Almost a CAT 4. By the way, if you guys saw the black crew cab F350 waiting in the gas line on FOX news, that was me. I'm writing this by generator power, but I'm just as happy as a flea on a dog. The Grace of God shines through on my family. I'm very sorry to hear of your loss Macon. Perhaps your dolphin catcher will sport a brand new Yamaha in the near future and your home will be better than ever as a result of this tragedy. What matters most is that we are still alive to tell the story. The rest just isn't that important in the big picture. God speed.

 

[Texan]

What matters most is that we are still alive to tell the story. The rest just isn't that important in the big picture. God speed.

Great attitude, D.R! Thanks for sharing with us.

 

[Mahoney Pursley Ranch]

Glad to hear you are safe and sound ! You must be livin right. ;-)

 

[Craig-TX]

Been wondering about you DR. Glad you and yours came through it, and mighty proud that you give credit where credit is due.

Craig-TX

 

[la4angus]

Sounds like it was pretty rough D.R.

We are all glad that you survived the storm. Had me wondering about and praying for you

You are right, Life is much more valuable than monetary losses.

 

[Cattle Rack Rancher]

Good to hear from you, D.R.

 

[txag]

thanks for the update, D.R. glad to hear you & the family made it through safe & sound.

 

[Jake]

Thanks for checkin in DR we were all thinking of you. Cow'd the cow herd come out?

 

[Ann Bledsoe]

Glad to hear you came it through it okay.
Wind in Okeechobee was 137 mph.
We've been told that we also only lost a few shingles, although we also have trees down all over the place.
One tree, a 60 ft pine, laid over almost parallel to the house -- just a few more feet and it would have taken the house out.

Ann B

 

[cherokeeruby]

Great to hear you and yours are alive and well. Was worried about you.

You story was a delight to read, made me feel like I was almost there.

 

[CattleAnnie]

Glad to hear that you're hale and hearty, DR. Sounds like both you and Ann B. had some close calls!

Take care.

 

[M Gravlee]

D.R., glad you and your family are all OK. Kinda makes you realize what's important in life.

 

[txshowmom]

Good to hear from you DR. I was getting kinda worried.

 

[frenchie]

glad to hear you are O.K D.R

 

[D.R. Cattle]

You guys are great. It's really sad to see the shape a lot of folks are in. Many houses had been condemned by Francis and obviously Jeanne didn't ease any of that suffering. I'm gonna miss this place. I mean the place that existed before all of this wierd weather. Imagine an old grandaddy oak you've been used to admiring for most of your life. Now reduced to a stump which will be ground up in a few weeks time. Tiki bars and oceanfront restaraunts we always prided ourselves in on a special occasion. Perhaps they'll be rebuilt, but now nothing more than a pile of sticks on the sand. The beautiful reefs we like to go dive when the ocean is calm and catch dinner, now buried under several feet of sand. Packinghouses built before I was born, now just a heap of scrap metal. Piper Aircraft a booming factory, now a pile of trash and all her workers layed off. Though it may seem strange, surely God has a reason bigger than we can understand to rock our world with this kind of storm. The cattle, horses and wild game react as if it were just simply a normal phase that occurs from time to time. Horses turn their butt to the wind and just bear it. The cows seek shelter for the storm and emerge to go back to their ways that please us so much. It's as if nature understands the Good Lord's intentions a little better than we do. Or maybe we take the basics and our many blessings for granted? Time to gas the generator and grain the horses- catcha in a few days.

P.S. I got to be in close proximity of the 1st Lady today. She is an exceptionally distinguished, very respectable and beautiful woman for her age!

 

[Ryder]

Just got an e-mail from a friend in Pensacola. He tried to leave the day before the storm, but after 70 miles he turned back because the traffic was so bad. He has a condo on Santa Rosa Island and figures it will be a year before he can live in it again.
I saw the traffic on I-10, I-12 coming from the coast and from New Orleans heading to Texas. Bumper to bumper and crawling. Looked like something from a science fiction movie. I did not know there were that many cars in the world.

Was looking at some e-mail links from a Pensacola newspaper a few days ago. They were talking about an area in rural Alabama where people had no food. This is not good!!!!!
A large church here is sending down a truck(s) of food etc. Monday. Man at the warehouse told me they were really getting a lot of donations. This is great, but hope some of the stuff can get to people in rural areas.

Yet, some areas you would think to be devastated were hardly damaged.

 

[jim]

Glad you folks made it! The Good Lord is the only reason I'm still here, and probably a few others too.
jim

 

[D.R. Cattle]

Amazing how resilient and resourceful the helpless can become. I've helped a few of the marketing guys from work remove trees from their homes. Mind you, most of them are the type that don't know what "mixed gas" is. I kicked in a Skynard CD and fired up the Husqvarna...look out! They are even learning how to use a chainsaw without cutting their hands off! Spirits are high right now. It's sorta like how Americans came together after 9/11. First thing I fixed at my house was the flag pole, and got Ole Glory flying again. After that it's been a non-stop "get 'er done" mission. It's great to be an American. The place is really shaping up. Still no power, but expected by tomorrow. Can't wait to put these memories behind us.

 

[D.R. Cattle]

Well now that it's hunting season instead of Hurricane season I thought I'd make good on my promise and deliver some footage.

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