Hallelujah! (Alex and I) Have Seen the Lights

At 10:48 this evening I sat up in bed, shouted hallelujah, grabbed my bathrobe, and ran—well, my slow version of running—through the house overjoyed to be bathed in light!

At approximately 1:30 Sunday afternoon, thanks to the remnants of Hurricane Ike, all electric power departed from my house as well as the those of more than 300,000 other customers of Louisville Gas & Electric.

We are very lucky to have electricity. According to the first newscast I have heard since Sunday morning, 215,000 customers of Louisville Gas and Electric remained without power as of 11:00 p.m. Monday.

Below are two videos I shot on Sunday. The first is what I had ready to post yesterday and was just preparing to do so when the lights went out. (Thankfully, I already had Monday’s jokes competed and scheduled be posted). The second I shot after the power failed and is, to me, the more dramatic of the two.

I do want to update one item in the unposted post below: Alex did keep his veterinarian appointment this afternoon. He is obviously still licking his tummy, but Dr. Caryl did not recommend the dreaded cone collar for my buddy!

I do have to continue administering Alex the antibiotics and eye medication. No more antihistamines, so I suspect that Alex will napping less than he has the past couple of weeks. He did receive another steroid shot. Caryl and I agreed that this one needs to be the last for a while, considering the dangers of steroids.

Oh! Alex gained 6 ounces since his visit to his vet 3 weeks ago. I suspect it is from his legal steroid use. I’ve not looked to see if he is developing “bitch tits” from his steroid use.

Ike and Alex

I was sitting at my desk a bit ago when I began hearing the wind whistling around the corner of my house. Then—and now—I noticed the branches of the trees outside shaking and dancing.

As the weatherperson predicted on last night’s TV news, the remnants of Hurricane Ike have arrived in Louisville. Of course what’s left of Ike is very tame compared to when the storm came ashore in Texas. Still, the sounds of the winds and the flickering of the electricity were disturbing to me—and more so to Alex, who decided to jump down from my desk and hide beneath it.

I chose to take my camera and capture what’s left of Ike on video. Actually, the winds now are much worse than when I shot the film. Electricity has gone out, my notebook is being run by its battery, and I have had to connect my nose hose to the huge emergency bottled oxygen, of which I estimate I have only about 30.5 hours.

When I came into the house from shooting the video of Ike’s winds, I found that Alex had retreated into the kitchen. I followed him and continued to shoot the video.

Below is the resulting film. Please note: there are two videos combined: one of Ike, one of Alex. There is a blue transition scene between them that I wish I had not inserted. So, please don’t turn off the video until you have seen the last part featuring Alex. OK?

Below is the second video that I shot. This was after the electricity went out and I believe more dramatic, possibly because I was, uh, reckless enough to stand out in the street as Ike’s winds increased:

May God’s Holy Light shine on all the victims of Ike for the greatest possible good.