I am sitting at Peli Peli in Vintage Park, one of my favorite restaurants in Houston. The owners, Chef Paul and Thomas are two of my favorite restaurant owners in Houston. Chef Paul was Little Chirp’s first inspiration to wanting to become a chef. Peli Peli was Little Chrip’s first taste of fine dining. He was four years old when he first met Chef Paul while Little Chirp was partaking of the Huegonat filet, one of Peli Peli’s specialties.
I am showered, dressed up a bit, and I am not stressed out. I feel relaxed and content. I am enjoying a glass of Peli Peli’s private label Pinatoge and the Houston Restaurant Week special. I had forgotten all about restaurant week. For a month every year, pretty much the month of August through Labor Day, premium Houston restaurants have special menus that give you multiple courses for a fixed price. For every order off the special menu, the restaurants make a donation to the Houston Food Bank. The fundraiser is a brilliant idea on many fronts.
I had not been to Peli Peli in awhile, yet I was greeted as if I was there yesterday. The bartender asked how I had been and inquired if I had gotten my car fixed. My car repair was the stress on my mind during my last visit to Peli Peli some months ago. I had forgotten that I had an issue with my car.
I think about this Saturday, and I think about last this time last Saturday. Last Saturday, the rains were just beginning. We thought that Hurricane Harvey was a lot hype and that we had “overplanned. Then the tornado warnings began, and they went on all night. I remember laying awake in fear, not knowing what to do. I remember the piter patter sound of the rain on my chimney. I never want to hear the Emergency Broadcast System’s emergency siren again on my phone or my TV. A tornado touched down just five miles from our home, right on top of someone else’s home. I prayed for them, and I cried.
I thought that a night of tornadoes were the worst of it. I had no idea what lay ahead for the city of Houston and the surrounding areas, the city that I finally call home, the city that I have fallen in love with over the past decade.
For the days that followed, the piter patter of the rain magnified in my brain. I kept the television on to drown out the sound. That worked some of the time. Ironically, I normally can’t stand for the television to “just be on”. Normally, we only turn the television on when we have a specific plan to watch something on the television, and then we turn it back off when we are done watching.
Washing my hair and putting on normal clothes seemed pointless. I wore my pajamas. We could not leave our home. We stuffed ourselves on junk food and stress brought to us by our local news station. All the while, there were a literal million or so people much worse off than we were.
Last Saturday was rough and times it was terrifying. The days that followed last Saturday were the worst days that Houston has ever seen.
Today, the sun is shining. Folks are complaining about the heat. I like these complaints because it means that it is NOT raining. Facebook is filled with people all over Texas coming together to help those with damage from the flood. Entrepreneurs through out Texas have made huge donations to help with the relief effort. You can bet that my future PC purchases will be DELL for the rest of my life. As Michael Dell has made the largest donation thus far in the form of 27 million dollars.
Two of my personal favorite enterprises, HEB and the Dallas Cowboys have stepped up to the plate as well. I love the Facebook posts celebrating our HEB and everything that HEB has done for our community in this difficult time. HEB is always giving back to our community, and they were there once again during this difficult time. The Dallas Cowboys held a telethon, which frustratingly our local television stations did not air. One of the best parts of the telethon was Jerry Jones calling into Dez Bryant, who was manning the phones. Jones made a one million dollar donation. This means a lot. Houston is unkind to Jerry Jones. I hope that they will remember what he has done for us.
In short, today is good day. The day is in sharp contrast to last Saturday when it all began. Heck, the Astros are up by 5 in the top of the 8th. Make that the bottom of the 8th. Go Astros!!!!
It is going to take a very long time for Texas to recover from the devastation of Hurricane Harvey. Let us appreciate every shining moment along the way.
May God bless Texas!!!!