We began the new month with some re-arranging in our den. Thankfully Keenan was quick to offer help moving things around. Let's be honest, his motivation to get done was to watch some football:
He had a great 1/2 half, then time was much slower on backend of run.
He had stopped to throw up.
The following week was the huge meet for the season:
Friday Night Lights
Over 1,000 other high school athletes from three states.
He had a blazing 1st mile, solid 2nd, then his time fell way off for 3rd mile.
Yup, stopped to throw up again.
His pacing & timing are a work in progress and it's ok.
So proud of him for putting in the hard work.
We had a blissful couple of weeks at the start of the month where it felt like fall.
This guy was thrilled.
We were too & it made our next XC meet much more enjoyable.
We celebrated Keenan's 17th the following day with seafood and cheesecake.
Poor kid had two packages get hung up in shipping. He took it in stride & a reason to continue the celebration.
That Friday I picked Keenan up early from school and we headed north for a quick visit with Kieran. And also to deliver some camping supplies he needed.
Since it was the weekend of 9/15, Kevin had to stay home and spend his time with tax returns.
Was so good to spend some time with Kieran & check out his brand new dorm.
The lounge on his floor is super nice:
We spent Saturday enjoying lunch at Young's Dairy, a hike at one of Kieran's favorite parks,
watching the new Beetlejuice movie, then dinner with his roommate.
Sunday we joined Kieran at his church, grabbed lunch, then headed back south.
Ohio was in a heat wave & I don't ever remember heading south and watching the temperature drop.
Sadly the traffic for Keenan & I did the opposite.
Construction was all along the WV turnpike. It was a long day.
Praying the get projects wrapped up before Kieran comes home for fall break.
The following weekend we hit the road again. This time not as far-to Charlotte for another big XC meet.
Unfortunately summer weather had shown back up again and it was stifling.
At least Keenan pushed through the entire race and didn't throw up until after he crossed the finish.
We had a lot of rain due to a coastal low.
Kevin & I spotted this wee fella one night on our walk. We helped him finish crossing the road.
The following week was spirit week at school.
Monday opened with Character Day:
It was followed by Superhero day, cowboy v. prep day, and Career Day.
Sadly I forgot to snag a picture of Keenan on career day.
He decided to go for a retiree.... and a bird watcher on top of that.
It was an excellent outfit.
Thursday Kieran headed to Lake Eire for a class camping trip, and we watched the weather.
We had had several inches of rain during the week due to a stalled low pressure system.
And a massive hurricane was in the gulf, heading north.
Keenan's XC meet for Thursday afternoon got cancelled, then school on Friday got cancelled as well.
Hurricane Helene was heading for NC.
Friday morning we woke to light rain and breeze. Helene had plowed into Florida and was pounding into Georgia and South Carolina.
Kevin headed to the office hoping that they would be less likely to loose power there.
Our weather quickly got worse with a lot of wind, then tornado watches and warnings.
The main band of rain came over us and dumped 1.5 inches on us in under 15 minutes.
Tornado warnings popped up close to us but thankfully we were not in their path.
It was a long morning & afternoon.
Thankfully we were ok, and by late afternoon the winds were much better.
Reports of massive power outages & the path of destruction were all over the news.
That evening I hopped on Facebook and noticed plenty of posts from friends around here, but none from anyone in the mountains.
Speculation was that lot of cell service was down in the area.
The next day, the concern grew as some reports began trickling in on what had happened in our mountains.
Photos started trickling in on social media and our hearts were heavy. So many of our friends have kids attending college in the mountains or living there.
Because of the stalled low pressure system our mountains had experienced days, & days of heavy rain. Then Helene roared through dumping additional rain and hurricane force winds all across the area.
Forecasters had been talking about flooding and possible mudslides but no one was at all prepared for the widespread destruction throughout the entire region.
Little creeks turned into massive rivers of water, mud, and debris. So, so, so many towns and people were left with no power, no water, no cell service. Roads had been destroyed, bridges destroyed, cell towers destroyed, water treatment plants destroyed. The devastation was massive.
In between checking social media & our phones for updates, we got this kid ready for his Homecoming Dance.
Yes, their soccer game had been cancelled but the dance was still on.
It was a great distraction in the midst of so much heavy news.
Sunday brought more stories of destruction & concern for the area.
Reports & pleas for help.
Private pilots with planes and helicopters jumped in to search for survivors and air drop water and food.
We were told National Guard troops had been stationed in the area before the storm hit, but then learned they were stationed 45 minutes outside of the affected area. Due to the damage to the highway, they couldn't get to the mountains for several days.
Thankful for the private pilots who jumped in to help.
Even now (Oct. 8th), people are still missing. I just got an alert that 39 missing people were just located & airlifted out today. Twelve days after the storm.
The landscape of town, after town, after town is forever changed.
This was a charming & delicious restaurant/brewery we love in Old Fort. The patio looked out by the river.....
Scenes like this became all too common:
And Lake Lure now looks more like a debris field.
Last week was a heavy, heavy week.
Lots of prayers for everyone in this entire area.
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