Outside the Rain
On her solo debut quadruple platinum album, Bella Donna, Stevie Nicks wrote this song as a continuation of her hit Fleetwood Mac tune, "Dreams," which appears on the perennial album "Rumors." In interviews, and even some lyric interpretations sites, she describes the song as "one finding the strength to persevere through life's toughest situations. This can apply to personal relationships, career choices, or even unforeseen circumstances.
So naturally, it is a fitting song to describe what is currently going on in Houston at the moment. For those that somehow don't know the story, a category 4 hurricane by name of Harvey hit the Texas gulf coast over the weekend. A long trail of destruction has been left in its path. Namely, the catastrophic flooding in Houston, and the leveling of buildings in Corpus Christi and surround areas and towns.
Through it all, however, there have been stories of outsiders and fellow residents helping each other to get through all this. They come from all different backgrounds and areas of the country. Showing the full American spirit of unity, they have banned together to get themselves to safety, or to find a way to last through it in there own homes, assuming this is even possible at the moment. And while the storm does not appear to be leaving that area anytime soon, not until Wednesday evening at the very least, people are showing what it means to be human in all of its forms.
It goes without saying, the area is going to be uninhabitable for a long while. So much so, that both the Houston Astros, and their next opponent, the in-state division rival Texas Rangers, both made their way up here to the DFW metroplex. Both teams are awaiting on word from the league as to what will be done about the upcoming 3 game series scheduled for Tuesday through Thursday. LATE EDIT: Both teams will head to the Trop in Tampa Bay for the series, with the Rays being on a road trip. However, that is, and should be, the furthest thing from their minds right now, as many of them have homes and families in the area.
Skipper A.J. Hinch put it the best with THIS quote from a report by Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle:
The only good thing to come out of the storm was that he got to make an early return to the team. I highlight all of this in my latest Astros recap from House of Houston. You can read it in the tweet below:
The Big White Bear decided to pick his parents, Jo and Melynda, who helped him through the struggles he had in his youth. A fitting, upstanding and noble tribute, I must say. The AT&T SportsNet SW crew even gave a backstory on his nickname choice of "Bull." You can watch that video below:
So naturally, it is a fitting song to describe what is currently going on in Houston at the moment. For those that somehow don't know the story, a category 4 hurricane by name of Harvey hit the Texas gulf coast over the weekend. A long trail of destruction has been left in its path. Namely, the catastrophic flooding in Houston, and the leveling of buildings in Corpus Christi and surround areas and towns.
Through it all, however, there have been stories of outsiders and fellow residents helping each other to get through all this. They come from all different backgrounds and areas of the country. Showing the full American spirit of unity, they have banned together to get themselves to safety, or to find a way to last through it in there own homes, assuming this is even possible at the moment. And while the storm does not appear to be leaving that area anytime soon, not until Wednesday evening at the very least, people are showing what it means to be human in all of its forms.
It goes without saying, the area is going to be uninhabitable for a long while. So much so, that both the Houston Astros, and their next opponent, the in-state division rival Texas Rangers, both made their way up here to the DFW metroplex. Both teams are awaiting on word from the league as to what will be done about the upcoming 3 game series scheduled for Tuesday through Thursday. LATE EDIT: Both teams will head to the Trop in Tampa Bay for the series, with the Rays being on a road trip. However, that is, and should be, the furthest thing from their minds right now, as many of them have homes and families in the area.
Skipper A.J. Hinch put it the best with THIS quote from a report by Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle:
"Everything is up in the air," Astros manager A.J. Hinch said Sunday. "We might get to Houston sometime in the next couple of days and play. We might not. ... Baseball is secondary right now. Our schedule, our flight times, where we're going to be, the buses, all of that stuff is meaningless compared to what everybody is suffering through."I commend the skip for always keeping things in perspective, and for sending out a tweet like this to the people of H-Town. Brian McCann, aka BMac, also had a nice quote from the same article:
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the people in the city of Houston," said McCann, who had four RBIs in the game. "You see pictures, (and) it's devastating. You just pray for everybody's safety."Your people's champion and mine, Evan Gattis, has not made any kind of official statement, quote or tweet just yet. But in all honesty, he and his wife, Kimberly have a home out in that area. I can only imagine the multitude of things going through their minds at the moment. If they are both reading this, and I hope they are, I send the two of them, as well as all in the area, my love and support in this trying time.
The only good thing to come out of the storm was that he got to make an early return to the team. I highlight all of this in my latest Astros recap from House of Houston. You can read it in the tweet below:
These uncertainties have, no doubt, played into the rusty weekend that El Oso Blanco, or shall I say "Bull" had on both sides of the ball. Defensively, his first night back, he had Mike Trout steal a base on him and a passed ball. Offensively, he went only 1-for-8 the entire weekend, with a base hit single in game 1 on Friday. All of this as the first inaugural "Player's Weekend" took place, where players were able to have nicknames on the back of their jerseys and sleeve patches with the names of people and/or entities that were paramount to their big league success.Via @tvwizard85 - It was an intriguing week of twists & turns for the #Astros. What went down? Let's review. ⚾️🔥🤔💯https://t.co/3TkJegf3LM— House Of Houston (@HouseOfHouston) August 28, 2017
The Big White Bear decided to pick his parents, Jo and Melynda, who helped him through the struggles he had in his youth. A fitting, upstanding and noble tribute, I must say. The AT&T SportsNet SW crew even gave a backstory on his nickname choice of "Bull." You can watch that video below:
I'm very confident that the bull-bear will pick it up again real soon. He just has to shake off the rust. Whichever nickname he favors or uses, Evan Gattis seems to represent the spirits of animals that are fierce and determined. Given everything he went through to get to the majors, it seems only fitting for him to do so. He embodies the American Spirit of determination and perseverance so well, which is only one of a long list of reasons why I admire this man. Frankly, anyone that doesn't is really only kidding themselves. But I digress, it is time now to get back to being serious.
Houston, my heart is bleeding for all of you right now. Much of my family and friends back in the Eastern Time Zone all wonder why I'm so attached to the city. A lot of them feel that I only like the city because it's where my favorite baseball team plays. While there is truth to the Astros part, the rest of it couldn't be more wrong if it tried to.
The truth is, I go there for more than just the sports. The few times that I have made trips down there from Fort Worth, I have really enjoyed myself there. As short as the handful of visits have been for me, I have grown to love everything about Houston. There is such spectacular things to see, do, eat, and play in H-Town. It's people have been nothing but welcoming and friendly, and I fully enjoy the clash of both city and country life coming together in one giant melting pot.
Some would still argue that this can be true about any of the big quad cities of Texas. While I can see the argument, nothing really seems to beat Houston, though. As an added bonus for me personally, it is the most LGBT friendliest city in the state. Next to the always kept weird Austin, that is. Still, the mesh of culture, cuisine, music and arts make H-Town what it is. Why else do you think they surpassed Chicago to take the spot of the 3rd largest city in the country behind New York and Los Angeles?
So when the hurricane hit, and I began seeing the devastation, my heart naturally sank. I certainly do pledge to join countless others in making whatever donations I can, and spreading the word through social media for others to join in the efforts. But there is a part of me that feels that no donation I make will be nearly enough, despite what others say. Time does have a way of healing wounds, but I don't know if all of them can be. I want the future to hold something good for the city, and I still strongly believe that it will.
To anyone out there reading this, if you are able to, please start sending your donations and spreading the word about getting these folks aide. Every little bit does help, and right now, the city of Houston needs as much of it as possible. So please, give what you can. Even if you have just a couple of dollars lying around, it can still go a long way. Please join me in this folks, and let's show that all Americans, not just those in Texas, can proudly be....
Original Photo Credit: Dinur Blum on Flicker
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