Day 24 (Sat., Sept. 24)

I woke up and jumped out of bed. W/ half opened eyes I searched through the room looking for the television controller. I quickly found it and turned on the tv. After sitting at the edge of the bed for a few minutes, it was confirmed. Galveston and Houston were relatively OK. Rita got weak and it went elsewhere.

Everyone's prayers had been answered.

Well, most everyone's, of course. Many people along the Texas-Louisiana border were going through a tough time as Rita ripped through their homes overnight. It was sad to see the pictures on the tube. A bitter-sweet feeling crossed my soul. Thank God for the millions of homes that were saved along the very populated Houston streets. Most of the 60,000 residents in Galveston will have a safe and sound home to go to. At the same time, however, people in Beaumont Texas saw their homes been washed away by the rising waters.

W/ that in mind, I was able to have a better day, given the circumstances. I laid in bed and watched the news for a while. Later, I decided to head out to the beach. The sun was bright and the sky was relatively clear, so I knew the beach would be good. A few minutes later I was on A1A driving north looking for a parking place. After settling in, I ran south returning 30 minutes later after completing a three-mile jog. Quickly cooled off by jumping in the water. Unlike the last time, I was not greeted by an odd looking fish. So the swimming went well. I found a shaded area under a palm tree and laid down to read more on Memorias de Mis Putas Tristes by Gabriel "Gabo" Garcia Marquez. After a few hours soaking in the sun, I decided it was time to do something I have been meaning to do for a while now: wash my truck.

Man, my truck was dirty. It had a thick film of dirt and it took me nearly three hours to clean up. Wow, it has been six weeks since I last washed my truck. It's been raining off and on, so it always seemed pointless. But today I just couldn't take it anymore. Who cares if it rains, at least it will rain on a clean truck and not smear the filth from one place to the other.

One of the coolest things that happened when washing the truck was when the ice cream truck drove by. Haha. Y'all know I love my ice cream. It was kind of ironic how the ice cream truck came right when I was on the bed of my truck cleaning the top op the truck. That's because a few months ago when I enjoyed my truck on the sand on Galveston, an ice cream truck came by. I jumped up and was so excited to see ice cream. This was the same feeling. It was a sigh of relief. I haven't had ice cream in a few weeks. That's really hard to believe.

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