So Sad...

I could be talking about the post-Ike clean-up and recovery but I'm really talking about the end of baseball season.
Oh sure, it's playoff time and I'll be watching it but the Astros finished 3rd and there are no prizes for that.
Adding to our misery was the fact that Brad Ausmus played his final game in an Astros uniform. He was one of my favorite players (and hottest) and will be missed.

I also went to Galveston on Saturday. Piper has had an ear infection for a while but her vet was located in Galveston. I didn't know how they fared until I called on Friday and they were open and seeing patients!
They are precariously close to the seawall but they were high enough to only get water in the basement.
I took Piper in Saturday morning and we got to witness the carnage ourselves on the way there.
Straight up Broadway, there were piles and piles of debris all along the road. Business and homes...none were spared. Everyone had to scoop out what was left of their first floor and leave it on the side of the road.
What was most shocking to me was the causeway. We all saw the pictures of the boats that washed up onto the road but seeing it first hand was something entirely different.
These giant yachts, sailboats and fishing boats were carried by the surge onto the causeway! It was unbelievable. I was so shocked on the way there, that I didn't have my camera out, ready to take pics. On the way back, the traffic was too heavy for me to get a decent shot. This was the best I could do:

I hit the Strand district, which has always been a favorite of mine. Up until just a few weeks before Ike, I spent my weekends scouring antiques stores in that area.
This is what one of my favorite stores looks like now:

This is another:

I took several more pictures but I'll show you this last one.
This is where the Balinese Room use to be:

Click here to see what it used to look like.

And here.

Galveston is rebuilding, though. People were working hard on Saturday and slowly but surely life is coming back to the Island. It's not dead...it's just slightly crippled.