Gulf Coast Hurricanes and Garden Gnomes

[BOSSHOG]

We are packed and ready to go. Everything outside which might end up in the next county have been secured or packed in the garage EXCEPT the garden gnomes and gazing balls. My wife has 44 gnomes hidden in our landscaping, I guess gnomes have to hide. They are being picked up and will ride out the storm in the garage. We have some really tasteful Pink Flamingos (is there any other kind) on the south yard but they have already retired to the garage. We'll hit the road before the sun comes up in the morning.

[Warpy]

1. I'm sure your neighbors will thank you when you get home

There is nothing worse in a hurricane than hearing crap slam into your house because your clod of a neighbor was too lazy to take in his trash cans, porch furniture, kid toys, and all the other crap that was always laying around his yard.

Well, nothing but watching that crap slam into a window and break it because if that happens, it's all over for your house.

[Lorien]

5. Yep, some of my neighbor's metal patio set hit my home during Charley

the rest was crushed under a fallen oak tree.

[BOSSHOG]

6. After Katrina

there was crap all over but it was mostly stuff which was properly secured. My neighbors mailbox was in our backyard under a ton of fallen trees, took us a week before we found it, and another neighbor had a small metal shed about 200 yards north of our house. The shed was ripped apart and most of it ended up in trees in our backyard. If Gustav's track stays steady we will be getting winds from the southwest, Katrina was a tad more to the east and the winds came from the Northeast after she passed. All the houses in the neighborhood which had garage doors facing east had them torn up, ours is on the westside so maybe this year its out turn.

[Thirtieschild]

2. Personal question: how does Tulane take care of the student body?

Our granddaughter entered as a freshman last weekend. Her roommate is from New Orleans so assume her parents will take care of both of them, but I'm curious about how the school handles a hurricane. Admittedly just a tad worried.

Also, our son is leaving Pensacola today (probably late since he has to pack the U-Haul), moving to Colorado Springs. I'm assuming he'll be well beyond Gustav when it hits.

I remember the hurricane that wasn't when we lived in New Orleans in the early, early 60s. One was wandering around in the gulf, was supposed to hit the city, people from south of New Orleans came into the city, people in New Orleans went to Baton Rouge. We lived near Ponchartrain and I guess would have been in trouble if it had hit. The hurricane more or less dissipated (do they ever do that?) but the atmosphere was ominous.

Love the hiding gnomes.

[GreenPartyVoter]

4. I would check their website for updates. I am sure they have a plan in place. *hugs*

[BOSSHOG]

8. I heard Loyola is having virtual classes thru Wednesday but

check www.wwl.com. Its a NOLA radio station which does a great job of passing out a ton of information about evacuations etc. I'd love for Gustav to die peacefully about right now but I don't think it will.

[MountainLaurel]

11. Here's the school's Web site

http://emergency.tulane.edu/

Dorm students who need transportation are being evacuated to Jackson State (presumably in Mississippi). If your granddaughter's roomie is from New Orleans, she's probably going with them.

I'm sure everything will be fine, but if you're interested there's a listserv available for parents; they might let a grandparent sign up.

[GreenPartyVoter]

3. Hehe. Nice lawn decor.. Hope Mrs. BH remembers where all teh gnomes are. I would be very sad, myself

to lose one. I forgot about my toad last year and over the winter he lost some paint and got chipped a little bit. :(

[BOSSHOG]

9. Oh yeah we have toads too

She gives them a touch up of paint if needed. I think she knows where they all are. They are pretty neat, some of them are about four inches tall and they are looking right up at you. Some are solar lights, some are small planters, one is in a bathtub, a couple are at a table playing cards, one is pushing a wheelbarrow, one is playing a flute while sitting on a mushroom, one is pumping his little water pump. They have a calming influence while sitting on the patio.

[GreenPartyVoter]

12. I haven't done the gnome thing. Just the one toad. I have considered a cat and rabbit as well, but

the truth is I let my flower beds go to crap so adding little doohickeys just makes it look even worse. x(

[lonestarnot]

7. Hoping for the best for you BOSSHOG!

:hug:

[BOSSHOG]

10. Looking at the Weather Map of the Atlantic

I hope we are not in for a month of groundhog days.

[cwydro]

13. Wishing you the best. -

been there and done that.

We're watching both of those critters pretty close here in the Keys.

Y'all take care now.

[BOSSHOG]

14. We'll be alright, I'm just nervous about the house

Love your Avatar.

[cwydro]

15. Thanks!

The mingos will look after your house for you, with the help of the gnomes.

[BOSSHOG]

16. Its really weird

We have put them in the garage before over an extended period and I swear when we got home they had moved.

[cwydro]

17. I believe it...

:rofl:

[merh]

18. Gnomebody knows the troubles we'll see

Gnomebody knows about tomorrow

Safe travels and take care :hi:

[Generic Other]

19. Hey, Bosshog, have you seen my gnome?

At first, she thought it cute to find
postcards from a garden gnome
gone missing from the flowerbed
in early June. His spree
postmarked from far flung places:
Paris, Rome, Capri. No roots could hold
him down, no way to bring him home.

So when the FBI knocked on her door
with questions and with Poleroids,
she laughed and asked if they had come
to bring her errant gnome back to her garden,
but from their frowns she saw it was
not so. The incriminating photos told the story
as she herself could clearly see
the jaunty red cap and impish grin
her garden gnome the one she’d bought
half-off at K-Mart to guard her marigolds
was now a wanted desperado. The agent asked
if she had ever heard of E.L.F. better known as
Earth Liberation Front, an eco-terrorist group
now in cahoots with one miscreant gnome
whereabouts presently unknown
except for Poleroids sent to the TV news.
And there he was, a prankish gleam in his eye;
behind him in a clearcut a bulldozer burning fiercely
And then another snapshot of him posed in a graffiti
covered primate lab, the monkeys swinging
from the ceiling lights, their brains all wired
for electroshock or some such mad science
now unplugged, the notes all shredded and
scattered like confetti frozen in mid-air.
One incriminating image after another:
a poisoned field of genetically engineered corn
a burned down subdivision; the corporate
office of a timber company; a mink farm
every cage wide open; the gnome it seemed
could pick a lock, or set a fire, and what he
could do with cans of paint, he did.

“When was the last time you saw this individual?”
I tried to remember when I’d seen him last
Surrounded by forget-me-not and cornflowers.
He was a pretty sneaky little critter, never gave
me any warning that he would be a wanderer.


Take cover, Boss...