The Price Family Home Companion

Perfect Storm?

In the Houston area, those in the meteorological know have been hinting at a perfect-storm-like scenario today. The convergence of two severe weather systems. One from the South/Gulf, the other from the West.

The system from the South began this morning by dumping tons (Chantell reports that the rain gauge has long since overflowed) of rain and dropping a handful of tornadoes as well.

One tornado hit an apartment complex that is less than a mile from where we used to live (our old apartment on Kirkwood). This is only a month or so after one touched down about 1.5 miles from our old apartment and damaged a church building. Although there are a fair number of injuries, thankfully there have not been any fatalities reported yet.

While very serious, the Houston Chronicle's account, is somewhat humorous:

the roof of one southwest Houston apartment complex was torn off at West Belfort, and nine people landed in the hospital in Sugar Land.

It's a rather thoughtful tornado to have deposited the injured at local emergency rooms.

For now, rains have subsided, but we're still bracing for more... and expecting the system that dumped hail in L.A. (last week) to come between 8:00pm tonight and 2:00am tomorrow morning.

Have our readers from Tucson, Phoenix, and/or Albuquerque already encountered the system or is it just building up more steam I wonder?

Halloweenies

We were introduced to the concept of "Boo-ing" this year. It's not something we had heard of before, but apparently it's quite big here. Boo-ing is really nothing more than Halloween chain mail (with candy)...

One family starts October by "boo-ing" two other families in the neighborhood. This consists of leaving a bagful of candy on an unsuspecting neighbor's porch, ringing their doorbell and running like a banshee.

At this point, it is incumbent upon the reader to have a working knowledge of banshees: first, that they run, and secondly that they do so quite quickly.

In the bag of Halloween goodies is a note explaining the proud history of boo-ing and what you must do to continue the chain lest you be the scourge of the neighborhood. Further, it explains (in gory detail) the ghastly things that will happen to would-be boo-ers that get caught holding the bag (you would get a fright).

Also, there's a stack of paper boo signs (ours where ghosts) to affix to your door so that you wouldn't be boo-ed again (as if people leaving candy on your porch is a thing you'd seek to avoid).

Now, a experienced boo-er would say you get to eat that candy, and then re-fresh the bag with new candy/treats, select the next boo-ie, and do the deed.

I, however, figure we have three options at our disposal.

• We can eat the candy, not put a boo sign up, and wait for more candy to polish off...
• Boo someone with the same candy we were boo-ed with...

or

• Do it right.

After much disagreement, I acquiesced and we did it right... except I rang the doorbell and left Chantell and Salem in my lumbering banshee dust.