Traumas, major and minor

We have suvived all kinds of traumas, major and minor. On Wednesday it was floods and possible tornadoes. I spent an hour watching firemen rescue people from an apt. complex roof in Arlington--a creek had suddenly burst its banks. And there was flooding all ovr the state in the path of--was it Hermione? Megan had a friend who drove into a low-water crossing before he saw the water but luckily escaped. Then that night I spent an hour texting with Melanie in Frisco because it looked like a tornado was headed their way--Jamie was at his office in Addison and she told him to stay there. I think the storm--no tornado but lots of wind and rain--passed between them. A good friend lives in a sixth-floor condo in Dallas where another tornado looked headed. I asked if she went to the basement but she said she stood in the window and watched it. Her opinion was that it was a lot more exciting on TV than what she saw. Tells you something about media, doesn't it? A good two hours of media time was devoted to the storms.
On the home front, the cat got locked in the closet that is her new hiding spot. Socorro, who keeps my house as clean as she can, didn't realize it was in there and closed the door tight. I finally missed her and noticed the closed door. Then yesterday morning when I went to let Scooby out, there was a dead possum at the foot of the stairs to the back yard.. My first instinct was to call neighbor Jay but I figured by the time he got here, Scooby's bladder would have given way. So I used the pooper-scooper to throw the poor critter over the fence into the drivewy, where today Greg, who does the lawn, kindly disposed of it for me. No, it was not playing possum--it was dead, for sure!
My food book proceeds, and today I plowed through the Best Maid Products (best known for pickles) Web page and got enough information to write up a descriptive history. Like many Texas foods it began as a home project--a Mrs. Dalton who made and sold meringue pies and didn't know what to do with all those leftover egg yolks. So she made mayonnaise. I love the creative use of leftovers! I think this is the last major entry before I send the draft off to the probable publisher.
I'm relieved that the publicity-seeking "reverend" in Florida has decided not to burn the Koran, but I still hope tomorrow will be peaceful. I thought President Obama did a good job today of handling the subject and the whole anti-Muslim feeling that has suddenly burst upon us with such ferocity. I saw on TV tonight a bit about a man who lost his son that day and is crusading to educate young adults--too young at the time to remember or understand--about the life-changing day and its impact on America. A much more reasonable way to remember the victims than burning the Koran.
Yay! The house next door to me will be occupied as of tomorrow. The landlady has rented, after nine months of trying to sell, to a young patent attorney, his wife who is expecting, and their two-year-old daughter. Sounds like good neighbors. Not having neighbors is sort of akin to being marooned on an island.