Flat Island

6" x 8"  |  charcoal on Stathmore

This beautiful view from my mother and father-in-law's deck on Long Beach Island, New Jersey, remains...post-Irene I'm happy to say.

To clarify my last post which was a little ambiguous, the Jones families in the northeast braved the storm. I was in the 'comfort' of the hottest|driest summer on record in central Texas...if only there were a pipeline that would direct all unwanted rain and flooding water plaguing the northeast to remedy our severe drought in the south. And today with wind advisories, many surrounding areas are battling wildfires...may God bless Texas and all others experiencing trying times.

But there is hope! A cold front is in the forecast for tomorrow...a high of only 90 degrees! ahhh...

: )

Rain dance anyone?

_

At the time of this post, I had no idea that our neighborhood was under mandatory evacuation. When it comes to wildfires during a severe drought people aire on the side of safety - which is a good thing, though it allows for a lot of misinformation to be passed around really fast. Or worst yet, real emergency info spottily distributed in rural areas. Firefighters were battling three major fires in the Austin area and the media was trying to keep up.

evacuation + wildfires + no coverage after the local evening news = ?!

Our neighborhood's lifeline was Google groups and Twitter. Accurate information was posted immediately by reliable sources at multiple lookout points.

If you don't have a neighborhood network set up, get one started.