NOTES FROM THE LODGE Sunday, September 14, 2008

I have spent the last few days raptly watching the TV with news from Houston. Fortunately for me, KHOU from Houston has been broadcasting 24 hours a day on DirectTV and I have been able to stay up on the developments of the aftermath of IKE. This has been such a personal event for me. So very many people and places that are dear to my heart were in the direct path of that terrible storm. My friend Robyn phoned me yesterday afternoon to let me know that she is fine--she was in West Houston and away from the very worst of the storm. Her loft on Galveston survived just fine. That was really good news. However, while watching the local channel in my living room, I saw one friend's house almost totally under water. I saw another friend's street so littered with downed trees that I'm not sure I would have recognized her house if I saw it. I saw Johnson Space Center looking like a completely different place than the one I know. Downtown Houston is a scene of glass-paved streets. Scene after scene of places I know so well looking so foreign and devastated. I sit in my cool, dry and safe living room listening to reporters I remember so well and say a prayer for all of my friends who are experiencing so much devastation. I pray for my two friends that own quilt shops that could very well be destroyed. I wonder if Quilt Market is possible or even appropriate at this time when it is just several weeks away. I will certainly let you know more on that later. I will also let you know if there is something I can think of that might help some of those dear folks.

On a different note, we have a lot of new fabric, a number of new books and patterns. Come in and check them out.

Next week, we will have machines set up to come in and help us sew 50 stockings for the Women's Club. These stockings are a project the Women's Club does for the Salvation Army as part of their Christmas program for needy children. Each stocking that you sew, each cuff that you attach will earn you a $1.00 coupon to spend at Nutmeg Lodge.

See you soon----Barbara