Twelve Years Later....

  Living on the Bayou, we get our fair share of hurricanes and other bits of squally weather.  Some storms are worse than others but, in recent history, none have been as severe as Hurricane Katrina.  She packed a wallop when she came ashore back in 2005.  While one would think that by this time, those in the path would have regrouped and all would be well again, that is not the case.  Yep, we suffered right along with everyone else and we, to the best of our ability, have recovered....somewhat.  Now, twelve years later, damage done during or shortly after the storm, is starting to show up on the Little Bayou House.  How is this possible?  Well, like any other home, the Little Bayou House was put together with nails and screws.  Guess what??  Those things rust when subjected to saltwater.  Rusty nails soon lose their strength and start to crumble.  Needless to say, my house is falling apart at the seams!  Plus, due to the mass amount of debris, lumber and damaged trees, termites have just about infested every house on the Coast. No one was excluded from that fine mess.  Come April, May and June of each year since the storm, huge swarms of the critters come out of hiding to send us into hiding.  Termites fill houses, crawl about the furniture and floors, get in your hair, make driving hazardous and even stop sporting events. There are just that many of them.  You cannot even breathe without inhaling a few critters! We, like everyone else on the immediate Coast are battling termites.  Ugh! But it is those rusted nails and screws that have created the current problem.

  As Katrina's storm surge sloshed around under our house and huge waves smashed against the sides of the house, even the inner portions of the home were being treated to a salty bath.  That was the least of our worries at the time.  Priorities had to be set and things were done in an orderly fashion.  First and foremost was to get wiring and plumbing reinstalled.  A lot of that was ripped from the house and, well, it was sort of needed.  Floors had to be removed, walls replaced and then there were the huge (ten to twelve foot tall) mountains of debris that had to be removed from yard.  Once those tasks were completed all seemed to be going swimingly.  But, oh no...the termites made their debut.  Nails and screws were pushed right out of thoughts.  

  Well, to make this long story short, things started happening on the Little Bayou House that were not to our liking.  Those rusted nails and screws started rotting boards.  To fix those, we are literally having to "gut" the Little Bayou House and start over again.  Today, two of my windows in the living room were removed.  This will happen each day until all ten windows and the door are removed, framework rebuilt and then new siding is installed.  My whole place is topsy-turvy!  Things are in a huge mess!  Good thing...huge holes (windows removed) allowed for a nice breeze to blast through the house.  Bad thing...huge holes (window screens removed) allowed for about every mosquito in a ten mile radius to invade my living room!  Hopefully, this ordeal will be righted soon and things can get back to normal around here.  Oh...did I mention?  Hurricane season is upon us once again.  Not fun.